LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. J 



[SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. j| 



INCIDENTS 



LIFE OF A PASTOR 



BY 



WILLIAM WISNEK, D.D. 



fhsJj^^ 







NEW YORK: 

CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STRICT. 

18f)l. 



^° 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

WILLIAM WISNER, D.D., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Northern District of New York. 



The Library 
of Congkkss 



WASHINGTON 



C. W. BENEDICT 
Stereotyper and Printer 
201 William Street. 



DEDICATION 



TO THE MEMBERS OF THOSE CONGREGATIONS OVER WHICH 
I HAVE PRESIDED AS PASTOR. 

Beloved Friends : 

As this little volume is made up of the incidents in a life which 
has been worn out in efforts to promote your temporal and eternal 
well-being, I have thought it should be inscribed to you, as a token 
of a pastor's love, and a memento of the condescending grace of God, 
which accompanied his labors among you. Permit me to bespeak 
for it an interest in your prayers, that the great Head of the Church 
would make it an instrument of good to your children, and to the 
souls of all into whose hands it may fall, after the hand of the writer 
shall be mouldering in the grave. 

Your Friend and former Pastor, 

WILLIAM WISNER. 
Ithica, May 1st, 1851- 



PEEFACE. 



The Incidents published in this little volume are 
all of them facts, and not fiction. As they extend 
over a period of more than thirty years, and the 
writer has had nothing but the brief entries in his 
diary to assist his memory, it will not be expected that 
the precise language used on the occasions referred 
to could be recollected. The substance of each 
conversation has been scrupulously retained, and all 
the circumstances put down which seemed necessary 
to lay open to the reader the operations of the human 
mind on the subject of personal religion, point out 
the obstacles which keep awakened sinners away 
from Christ, and show the wonderful condescension 
and grace of God in the work of man's salvation. 

If this brief abstract of the writer's experience and 
observation, in his intercourse with the different 



VI PEEFACE. 

classes of individuals, through the course of his min- 
istry, should assist or encourage his younger breth- 
ren, in their labors of love with their dying fellow 
men, or should aid any awakened sinners in finding 
their way to Christ, his object in this publication 
will be obtained, and the ardent desire of his heart, 
and his prayer to God answered. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

The Infidel without a resting-place, . ... 11 

The sick doctor and the 10th of Romans, : . . 13 

Infidelity dreadful to the awakened sinner, . . . . 17 

The last time, 25 

Resting on the prayers of Christians, 30 

Submission and joy without hope, 33 

It is but a moment's work, 38 

The boy who dare not go home before he repented, . . .41 

The young lady who was sorry she had come to the meeting of 

inquiry, 44 

The dangers of putting off the things which belong to our peace . 52 

The woman who could not give up her husband, ... 55 

Christ our advocate, 59 

The woman who kept out of the way, 62 

The dying girl's message to her father, 64 

A revival of religion, 66 

The dreaded visit, 80 

The Infidel Bible-class .82 

The woman who was afraid of her husband, . . . 85 



VU1 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The working card, 88 

The family that had never read the Bible, . . ; . . 92 

The diffusive nature of true religion, 95 

The girl who was afraid of her parents, ; .... 99 

The persecuted wife, 102 

The daily prayer-meeting, . . . . .' . . 106 

The conversion of a little child, 109 

The Lord often in answering our prayers gives us better things 

than we ask, 112 

A revival resulting from an oversight in the church, . .114 

The converted rumseller, 118 

A man compelled to come in, 121 

The danger of pursuing a business which is inconsistent with a 

revival of religion, 124 

The danger of being ashamed of the work of the Spirit on our 

own hearts, 128 

The happy influence of well-directed meetings of the judicato- 
ries of the church, .130 

A remarkable answer to prayer, ... . . ] 36 

A way to keep the oversight of a large church, . . . 138 

The little boy's remedy when he goes in the dark, . . . 140 

The influence of rumselling upon the heart and conscience, . 142 

The promise fulfilled, 146 

Brief account of a work of grace in the Brick Church in Roches- 
ter, 149 

He that watereth shall be watered, 1 59 

The young girl's assurance of the answer to her prayer, . . 163 

Almost persuaded to be a Christian, 168 

Sinners live to no good purpose, 171 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



A Universalist awakened by a king-fisher, 

Fatal advice, 

The woman who had no feeling, 

The Infidel lady, 

A word spoken in season, . 

The opportunity of saving a soul lost by neglect, 

The sad effects of parental neglect, 

An improper use of self-examination, 

Triumph in death, 

Christ's yoke, 

The son who was lost found, 

Sin's victim, 

The young Englishman, . . . . 

The Cup blessed to the awakening of a sinner, 

Going down into the water, .... 

The woman who could not submit to Christ, 

The man who ridiculed prayer, . 

The influence of little children upon their parents, 

The skeptical physician, 

Party politics inimical to religious feeling, 

The difficulties which the early ministers in Western New 
York have had to encounter, and the true character of 
Western revivals not understood by our Eastern brethren, . 

Dying grace on a dying bed, 

Abused by a Universalist, 

The man who expected to be converted, .... 

" Man deviseth his ways, but the Lord directeth his steps," 



PAGE 

174 
178 
183 
189 
193 
196 
198 
204 
216 
224 
228 
231 
236 
239 
243 
249 
253 
257 
263 
267 



271 
283 
286 
293 
298 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The awakened girl and the pheasant, 303 

The girl who was offended at the manner in which she was 

prayed for, 307 

The influence ef Infidelity upon the moral character and hap- 

ness of men in this world, . . , . . .312 

The man who was hired to go to the prayer-meeting, . .314 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE INFIDEL WITHOUT A RESTING PLACE. 

Walking one day in the village where I was 
laboring, I met a man who I knew openly- 
avowed himself an infidel. After the usual 
salutations, I said to him, " Well, Mr. B., what 
is the condition of your soul this morning ?" 
His answer was, " O, I am an infidel." 

" I know that, Mr. B., but as a man of reflec- 
tion, who understands what infidelity is, you 
will not pretend to me that you know the Bi- 
ble is not the word of God." After a few mo- 
ments reflection, he replied, "I acknowledge 
that I do not know that it is not, but I do not 
believe it is." " Well, Mr. B., if the Bible 
should not be the word of God, can you be 
sure that there will not be just such a state 
of retribution beyond the grave as the Bible 
describes ?" 



12 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

" No, I ani sure of nothing "beyond the 
grave, but I do not believe there will be any 
retribution." 

" Then, Mr. B., your reason compels you to 
admit, that you cannot know, but living and 
dying as you are, you will go to hell, and be as 
miserable there to all eternity, as the Saviour 
represented the rich man to be." 

" It is true, I can be certain of nothing be- 
yond the grave, whether I shall exist at all 
there, or if I do what will be my condition, is 
a mere matter of conjecture." 

" Keep this in mind, Mr. B., when you lie 
down and when you rise up, that you do not 
know but you shall go to hell when you die, 
and if you can rest with the possibility of such 
a dreadful end your mind is differently consti- 
tuted from mine." 

We parted, and he went about his business, 
but, as I afterwards learned, never enjoyed 
any peace until he indulged a hope in Christ. 

In a few weeks he united with the Baptist 
church. 

Infidels do not reflect how baseless their 
scheme is. It keeps them from the consola- 
tions of a hope of a blessed immortality, and 



INCIDENTS nsr a pastoe's liee. 13 

gives them notliiiig in return. Surely their 
rock is not like our rock, our enemies them- 
selves being judges. 



THE SICK DOCTOR AND THE 10th OF ROMANS. 

In visiting among my people one morning, a 
lady informed me that a physician in the vil- 
lage, with whom I had some acquaintance, was 
confined to his room by a severe cold, and his 
friends had some apprehensions that it might 
result in his death. 

I immediately went to his room to see him, 
and found him on his bed. He assured me 
that he had no apprehensions of any other se- 
rious effects from his present indisposition, than 
confinement from his business for a few weeks. 
He said he was taken with an inflammation of 
the lungs, and had used such thorough means 
to reduce it, that it had left him very weak, 
but he thought he should soon recover. 

After conversing with him upon the general 
subject of religion, I requested him to take the 



14 INCIDENTS EST A PASTOE's LEFE. 

tenth chapter of Romans, and study it as he 
would a medical book, and give me his opinion 
of its meaning when I called again. 

The second time I called, as soon as I was 
seated, he said to me, "I cannot understand 
that chapter you gave me to study,- when you 
were here last." 

" What part of it, doctor, don't you under- 
stand?" 

" That part that says, c If we will confess with 
our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe with 
our heart, that God hath raised Him from the 
dead, we shall be saved." ' 

" Why, my dear sir, there is no hidden 
meaning to that passage; it tells us a simple 
truth, and must be understood just like any 
other plain declaration." 

" What then is it to believe with the heart ?" 

This I illustrated by telling him that if his 
wife was in ISew York, and a man of establish- 
ed reputation should come from that city, and 
inform him that she lay at the point of death, 
he would be immediately convinced of the 
truth of the message, while his heart would 
wish that it was not so ; but if a subsequent 
messenger should arrive and inform him that 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 15 

his wife had passed the crisis in her disease, 
and was ont of danger, the feelings of his 
heart would sympathize with his intellectual 
convictions, or in other words, he would be- 
lieve with the heart and the understanding. 

On hearing this illustration, he lay for a 
short time absorbed in thought, and then in- 
quired with earnestness, " Is this all 1" 

I told him this was my view of the meaning 
of a belief of the heart, and referred him to 
the passage in Acts, where, on the day of Pen- 
tecost, as many as gladly received the word 
were baptized and added to the Church. 

He replied, " If this is so, then salvation is 
much easier to attain than I have ever sup- 
posed." 

I told him it was indeed so, and that sinners 
often rejected it on that account. They were 
looking for something mysterious and difficult, 
and when they were told that they had only 
to believe with the heart, like the Assyrian 
leper, they would go away disappointed, and 
often displeased. 

The next time I called to see him, I found 
him much more unwell, but full of joy and 
peace. He seemed to believe with the heart, 



16 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LITE. 

that God had raised His son Jesus Christ from 
the dead, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give 
repentance and remission of sins. He contin- 
ued to sink rapidly under his disease, and in a 
few weeks closed his earthly career, rejoicing 
in the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. 

How often do sinners, when convinced of 
their lost condition, instead of submitting 
themselves to the righteousness of God, go 
about to establish a righteousness of their own. 
They must do something to make themselves 
better, before they come to the Saviour ; and 
in this way often grieve the Holy Spirit away 
from them, and lose their serious impressions, 
and die in their sins. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LITE. 17 



INFIDELITY DREADFUL TO THE AWAKENED SINNER. 

In 1826, when God was ponring out his 
Spirit on my congregation, there was living 
among us a young man of an active and enter- 
prising mind, who, as he subsequently informed 
me, to get rid of the restraint imposed by the 
self-denying doctrines of the gospel, had tried 
to become a Universalist, but perceiving that 
the Bible was directly opposed to his new sen- 
timents, had rejected the unaccommodating 
book, and became an infidel. 

Though he had cast off the restraints im- 
posed ©n the mind by a belief m the Christian 
system, and was wholly neglecting the institu- 
tions of the gospel, yet the reflex influence of 
religion upon the amiable temper of his mind, 
enabled him to retain, to a considerable extent, 
that outward morality, which forms one of the 
distinct folds of her accustomed drapery. 

Until the revival had been in progress near- 
ly a month, and more than one hundred were 
rejoicing in hope, this young man kept himself 
aloof from what he considered a foolish and a 



18 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK S LIFE. 

needless excitement. But on the 6th of De- 
cember he was induced, by a sense of polite- 
ness, to accompany a lady, with whom he 
boarded, to an evening lecture. 

He went to this meeting, however, with a 
full determination to keep his mind engrossed 
with worldly thoughts, and succeeded so well 
that on his return home he had no distinct re- 
collection of any one truth that had been ad- 
vanced. 

After supper, the lady of the house, and a 
pious young woman who resided in the family, 
left the young man in the parlor, and retired 
to their own rooms in a distant part of the 
house, to have a season of prayer for the 
thoughtless boarder. While they were on 
their knees, pleading in a low tone of voice for 
him at the throne of grace, they were alarmed 
by a cry of anguish from the parlor. On re- 
pairing thither, they found the family Bible 
open upon the table, and the young man 
standing upon the floor with strong marks of 
agony upon his countenance. On seeing the 
ladies his pride rallied, and to the question, 
" What is the matter V he was, as he after- 
wards told us, about to answer, " Nothing," but 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 19 

before the words had passed his lips, his heav- 
ing bosom gave vent to another cry of anguish, 
and he exclaimed, " O, I am an infidel, pray 
for me," and fell prostrate on the floor. 

Under the teachings of the Holy Spirit, he 
now saw clearly that his Universalism and infi- 
delity were alike refuges of lies, under which 
he had taken shelter to screen himself from 
the reproaches of a guilty conscience ; and he 
believed that an incensed God was driving 
him from them, not in mercy to him, but as a 
warning to those who might be tempted to 
adopt a similar course. 

About 12 o'clock at night he requested that 
some of his companions of the legal profession, 
for he was a lawyer, might be sent for, that 
they, seeing his anguish, might escape the 
hopeless abyss into which he had fallen. At 
two in the morning I was called from my bed 
to visit him. Upon entering the room I found 
him upon his knees ; not attempting to pray, 
but sustaining himself by a chair, and giving 
vent to the anguish of his lacerated bosom. I 
approached him and inquired the state of his 
mind, but only received the answer, " I am an 
infidel! I have denied my Saviour, and am 



20 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

now given up of God to eat of the fruit of my 
own doing." His soul seemed sunk in despair, 
while the shiverings of a strange, unearthly- 
horror, which ran through his frame, had so 
prostrated his muscular powers, that he was 
unable to stand without support. After giv- 
ing him some instructions from the word of 
God, and praying for him, I left him under the 
care of some judicious friends and returned 
home. The next day was a thanksgiving 
through the State, and though it was a season 
of great gratitude to God among us, it was 
also a season of deep distress with many, and 
great anxiety with all. The church was filled 
with Christians, who were agonizing in prayer, 
and with awakened and convicted sinners, who 
felt that the pit was yawning at their feet. 

In the evening there was a meeting of in- 
quiry, at which there were some seventy or 
eighty persons, and among them was the de- 
spairing young lawyer, who came, supported 
by two friends. Here I again endeavored to 
lead him to Christ, but to every overture of 
mercy he would reply, " These provisions were 
once for me, but I have rejected them. I have 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 21 

sinned away my day of grace. I am an infi- 
del !" 

In this state of mind he left the meeting, and 
continued to tremble under a fearful looking 
for of judgment and fiery indignation from the 
presence of the Lord, until 11 o'clock that 
night, when his obdurate will was humbled by 
the Spirit of the Lord ; and the heart-rending 
groans of the convicted infidel were exchanged 
for the joyful song of the child of God. 

The next morning he came into our prayer 
meeting, and with great tenderness of feeling, 
gave us an account of his conflict. He said 
that what kept him so long from peace, was a 
desire to compromise with the Almighty, in- 
stead of submitting himself unconditionally 
into His hands. There is no compromise, said 
he, in this matter. We must submit before 
God can have mercy. 

His transition from the bitterness of a hope- 
less sinner, to joy and peace in believing, was 
sudden ; but his joy, instead of being like the 
morning cloud and the early dew, has been like 
the light which is shed upon the path of the 
just, shining more and more. He has been a 



22 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

pillar in the church twenty-four years, and for 
more than fifteen a ruling elder. 

If this case may be considered, as I think it 
may, a fair specimen of the effects of infidelity 
upon a mind enlightened "by the spirit of God in 
this world, where there is room for repentance, 
what will be the condition of the infidel, when 
eternity shall disclose the unreasonable wicked- 
ness of such an attitude — when there will be no 
opportunity to escape from the wrath of an in- 
sulted Saviour. The freethinker seems to con- 
sider his scepticism a justification for all that 
he does amiss. As he resorted to it to get rid 
of the strictness of the law of God, he avails 
himself of the license allowed him, by his 
adopted creed, to indulge all his wicked pro- 
pensities. When exhorted to attend to the 
means of grace, he is satisfied with the answer, 
1 I am an infidel.' When entreated to break off 
from his immoral habits, he gives us the same 
answer. And when we point him to the injury 
he is doing the rising generation, by withdraw- 
ing them from under the restraints of the gos- 
pel, he meets us with the same self-satisfying 
reply, " I am an infidel." But what consola- 
tion will his infidelity give him, when the light 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR ? S LIFE. 23 

of Eternity snail teach him, what the Holy 
Ghost taught this young man ? Infidelity may 
indeed blind the eyes for a time, and enable 
the sinner to walk with a firmer step in the 
road to Hell, but it is a chosen delusion, which 
must pass away. If the spirit of God does not 
remove it in this world, it will be dispelled by 
the light of his countenance in the world to 
come, and then the poor self-blinded creature 
will realize those truths which made the knees 
of this young man to smite together. 

It is easy for men, while immersed in the 
bustle of business, or running in the giddy 
round of fashionable amusements, or listening 
to the pleasant song, to forget God, and put far 
off the evil day. It is easy for them while 
sitting at a full board, and joining in the con- 
vivial circle, to silence the small voice of con- 
science by the recollection that they are infi- 
dels. But the bustle of business, and the 
giddy round of fashionable amusements, must 
be laid aside ; the song of pleasure must pass 
away ; the full board and the convivial circle 
must depart. Death's awful bereavements 
must break up the dearest relationships of 
life ; the largest possessions must be reduced 



24 

to the limits of the narrow house ; and even 
the repose of the grave must be broken by the 
noise of the heavens and the earth passing 
away. 

Then, impenitent sinner, what will you do ? 
When the clarion of the gospel shall be ex- 
changed for the trumpet of the archangel, and 
the sceptre of mercy for the sword of justice ; 
when you shall stand upon a dissolving world, 
in the presence of a righteous God ; when the 
history of your life shall be unfolded, the book 
of God's law opened, and the offers of mercy 
rolled up and laid aside — will you be able to 
silence the reproaches of an awakened con- 
science, or still the throbbings of an aching 
heart, by exclaiming — " I am ajs infidel P 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 25 



THE LAST TIME. 

As I stood by the side of a dying young 
man, around whose bed the family had 
been collected by his request, for their morn- 
ing devotions, he lifted up his eyes to his weep- 
ing father, who was about to kneel in prayer, 
and said, " It is the last time I shall ever unite 
in this service with this loved circle, with 
whom I have so often knelt in prayer." The 
household were deeply moved, and as they 
united with this loved one in the worship of 
God, for the last time in this world, they felt 
that it was something more than the forms of 
religion which called them to the throne of 
grace. From the father, whose head was be- 
ginning to be sprinkled with gray hairs, to the 
youngest brother, a boy of eight years, all 
were convulsed with weeping. 

Here was a scene of absorbing interest. 
This family, through all their trials and seasons 
of distress, had been called to experience no 
bereavement. They had rejoiced together, 
and wept together, and prayed together ; but 
2 



26 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LITE. 

now they had arrived at that point in their 
history, when they could walk together no 
more. They had come to the entrance of the 
dark valley, and while one of their number 
was called to step down into it, the rest of the 
family were not permitted to accompany him, 
They had knelt for a parting blessing, to en- 
treat the precious Saviour to walk with the 
loved one through the dark passage, and to 
sustain the survivors, who were ordained to 
labor a little longer in a world where sin and 
death were still permitted to reign. They had 
often contemplated, and talked, and prayed, 
about this hour, while they were all in health ; 
but to realize it, to have the individual who 
must go first designated, and ready to depart, 
to hear his own lips announce, that this was 
the last time they should ever unite with him 
in family devotion, called up a set of feelings 
altogether new. The parents had now done all 
that they ever could do for their dear boy, ex- 
cept to wipe the cold sweat of death from his 
well-developed forehead, close his intelligent 
blue eyes, which were still fixed affectionately 
upon them, prepare his body for the tomb, and 
carry it to its last resting place. No mistake in 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 27 

his Christian education could now "be corrected, 



no neglect in preparing him to stand at the 
judgment-seat could now be supplied, and no 
injury which might have accrued to his spiritu- 
ality by the precepts or example of those 
whom God had appointed to train and disci- 
pline him for himself, could now be remedied. 
His earthly career was ended, his character 
was formed, and the image impressed on his 
undying soul by all the influences which had 
been brought to bear upon it, was about to 
receive the seal of eternal duration. 

The brothers and sisters, too, as they knelt 
for the last time around his dying couch, could 
not but feel, that he would carry to the judg- 
ment-seat the effects of all the influences which 
they had exerted, and that he would be a wit- 
ness for or against them there. 

To the dying youth, too, this was a most 
solemn moment. His days were now numbered 
and finished, the sun which was then sending 
his golden beams over the eastern hills, would 
set upon his cold, dead body. The hour had 
arrived which must separate him from happi- 
ness and hope or introduce him into the joy 
of his Lord. What a moment ! The influence 



28 INCIDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 

of the conduct of a whole family resting tipon 
the head of one of its dying members, and 
going with him into eternity. 

Yes, reader, this was all true, for though the 
righteous God would not punish this young 
man for the sin of his parents, nor make him 
accountable for the sins of the brothers and 
sisters, yet the influence of the faithfulness or 
unfaithfulness, or of the holy or unholy exam- 
ple of this entire family, did help to form the 
character of this young man, and will have an 
important bearing upon his happiness or mis- 
ery, when the great drama of human affairs 
shall have been wound up. 

But more than this, dear reader, the last 
time must come to every individual, and to 
every family of the human race. We must 
every one of us lie down upon the bed of 
death, and know that our days are numbered 
and finished. Our friends, (if we are privi- 
leged to die among them,) must stand around 
our couch, and feel that it is the last time. 
Then, when the last adieu of the beloved ones 
around us is sounding in our dying ear, we 
shall feel that every event in our past life 
will have an important bearing upon the des- 



INCIDENTS m A PASTOK's LIFE. 29 

tiny of our undying souls through all eternity. 
Are you ready, reader, for this hour ? For 
this winding up of the great drama ? 

If you are a parent, are you ready to stand 
for the last time by the bed of a dying child, 
and know that he is just taking his departure 
to that world of woe or joy, for which your 
precepts and example have done more than all 
other causes to prepare him ? 

Brothers and sisters, are you ready for this 
last time ? Are you prepared to stand by the 
death-bed of one of your own number, and 
while you wipe the big drops of sweat from 
his face, to feel that the influence of your ex- 
ample has contributed to fit him for glory and 
immortality, and eternal life, or for indignation 
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, forever. 

And, finally, are each of you prepared to lie 
down upon your bed for the last time ? are 
you ready to listen to the last prayer that will 
ever be offered for you, and to feel that there 
is nothing but the death struggle between 
your souls and the judgment-seat of the Holy 
God ? Believe me, impenitent reader, that 
time is near at hand, and let not the cares of 
the world, nor the deceitfulness of riches, nor 



30 INCIDENTS m a pastor's lite. 

the lusts of other things, keep you from con- 
templating it, and preparing for it. It is to 
prepare for this day that all your other days 
are given you, and if it should not find you 
ready, it would be well for you if you had 
never been born. 



RESTING ON THE PRAYER OF CHRISTIANS. 

In the time of a precious revival of religion 
in my congregation, at the close of an evening 
lecture, I gave notice that if there were any 
impenitent persons, who wished for personal 
conversation with the pastor, they might re- 
main after the benediction, and that those 
Christians who wished might remain and have 
a season of prayer. As soon as the congrega- 
tion had withdrawn, a woman came to me in 
great distress, and wished to have us pray for 
her. I asked her if she felt that she was a 
guilty, condemned sinner, and that Jesus Christ 
was just such a Saviour as she needed: she said 
she did. I inquired if she did not know that 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 31 

He was willing to receive her, and forgive her 
sins, if she would unreservedly submit herself 
into His hands. She said that she did. I then 
asked her if she would give herself to Him ? 
She replied that she wished to, but could not, 
and wanted to have Christians pray for her. 

I thought, from her appearance and conver- 
sation, that I could discover a disposition to 
put the prayers of Christians in the place of 
the Saviour, and told her that we could not 
pray for her. That she knew her duty and 
was refusing to do it, and wished to have us 
treat her as a poor, unfortunate creature, who 
wished to be saved by Christ, but could not. 

She entreated, with sobs and many tears, to 
be made a subject of prayer : said she had 
come several miles for that purpose, and 
hoped we would not deny her that privilege. 

I told her she knew her Master's will, and 
had long refused to do it, that our prayers 
would not alter the terms of her salvation, and 
we would not interpose them between her and 
Christ, but she must either submit herself into 
His hands, and accept of the pardon which He 
offered, or go home rejecting Him. 

On hearing this she seemed in an agony of 



32 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

mind for a short time, but soon gave up her 
rebellion, and began to rejoice in the Saviour 
whom she had all her life long rejected, and 
went away thankful that she could find no 
resting place short of the blood of the cross. 

I have no doubt, that if we had complied 
with her request, she would have gone home 
hoping that our prayers would be answered, 
and not unlikely have grieved the Holy Spirit, 
and lost all her concern about her salvation. 
Sinners, under awakening, desire something to 
rest on this side of Christ, and we should be 
exceedingly careful not to furnish them with 
any ground to feel that they are using means, 
which will induce God to have mercy on them. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 33 



SUBMISSION AND JOY WITHOUT HOPE. 

Among tlie prominent members of my con- 
gregation was the leading physician of the 
place. He was the son of a quaker, and though 
he had retained enough of the peculiarities of 
that sect, to "be able to ward off the truths of 
God from his conscience, he had not enough of 
their commendable morality to keep him from 
becoming a notorious horse-racer and a gam- 
bler. 

His wife was a superior woman. She was 
well educated, and had an independent mind, 
and mourned over his pernicious habits. Not- 
withstanding the influence of her husband, she 
was brought, by the grace of God, to indulge 
a hope in Christ, and presented herself to the 
session, and was approved and ordered to be 
received, with a number of others, on the next 
Sabbath. 

On Saturday afternoon, she told her hus- 
band that she had been examined, and, if he 
had no objections, intended to make a public 
profession of religion. He said he had objec- 



34 INCIDENTS EST A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

tions to lier taking such a step. She told him 
to state them, and if she could feel that they 
would relieve her from her obligation to Christ 
she would defer uniting with the church until 
they could be removed. He replied that he 
was dissatisfied with our confession of faith. 
She then got the compendium to which the 
candidates were required to assent, and read it 
article by article, and when she had got 
through he told her to go on. She told him 
she was at the end, and had read all to which 
the candidates were required to give their as- 
sent. He said it could not be that she had 
read the whole of that confession, which I used 
on the admission of members. She assured 
him she had read every word, and requested 
him to examine it for himself. He left the 
room without saying a word, and she had no 
more conversation with him that evening. 
He was unhappy, but knew not why, and en- 
deavored to avoid company. 

Some time in the evening a man called to 
have him go a few miles out of town, to visit 
a sick woman. He sent the messenger on 
ahead, that he might ride alone, as he did not 
wish to converse with any one. While he was 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 35 

riding through the woods, thinking about the 
character of Jehovah, as he had heard it preach- 
ed in the sanctuary, and explained by his pas- 
tor in private conversation, all of a sudden 
the subject was presented to his mind in such a 
manner, that he began to be filled with delight 
in its contemplation. " Surely," said he to 
himself, " such a God ought to be loved, and 
his moral government submitted to and de- 
lighted in," and then he was filled with joy 
and peace. But soon it occurred to him, that 
he was the enemy of this God and might pro- 
bably remain His enemy to all eternity, and be 
cast out from His presence. This made him 
unhappy. But then he thought it would be 
right in God to deal with him according to his 
sins ; and then the glory of the divine perfec- 
tions would fill his mind, and banish all thought 
of himself, and he would again be filled with 
joy and peace. In this way his mind alter- 
nated between joy, in view of the divine per- 
fections, and a dread of remaining God's ene- 
my, until he had prescribed for the sick woman 
and returned home. 

He went to the church next morning with 
his wife, and saw her join herself to the Lord 



36 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

in an everlasting covenant, and became so de- 
lighted with the plan of salvation, that he 
could scarcely think of himself at all, but did 
not have the least suspicion that his heart had 
been changed, until the middle of the week, 
when he began to hope that he had been born 
again. At the next communion season he, 
with thirteen other young converts, openly 
took the covenant of God upon himself, and 
became an active member of the church. 

After a suitable trial, he was chosen and or- 
dained a ruling elder, and for many years was 
one of my efficient helpers in bringing souls to 
Christ. He still lives, and is an elder in a 
Presbyterian church, though not in the place 
where he was brought to the knowledge of the 
Lord. 

This case furnishes a beautiful illustration of 
the foundation of the Christian's hope. It 
does not precede, but follows his submission to 
God, and is founded upon his love for and trust 
in the Eedeemer. We learn, too, from this 
man's experience, that the character and gov- 
ernment of God should be kept prominently 
before the mind of the impenitent sinner, that 
he may understand the nature of the contro- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 37 

versy between himself and his Maker; and 
may have the elements of joy and peace in his 
soul, as soon as lie is brought to give up that 
controversy. If the doctor had not been 
taught what that character and government 
was, he would neither have known the depths 
of his own depravity, nor have been filled with 
joy and peace in contemplating the divine per- 
fections. " The carnal mind is enmity against 
God," but the sinner can never know this ex- 
perimentally, until he is made acquainted with 
the character of the Most Hioh, and with the 
principles of his administration. When these 
truths are distinctly kept before the mind, the 
Holy Spieit, by carrying them home to the 
heart, convicts of sin, by letting the transgres- 
sor feel that he is the enemy of a holy and 
righteous God. 



38 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



IT IS BUT A MOMENT'S WORK. 

In a season of revival in 1830, I found in 
my meeting of inquiry an old man upwards of 
seventy, who had for more than forty years 
been trying to find rest for his soul in the 
works of his own hands. Going about to es- 
tablish his own righteousness, he had not sub- 
mitted to the righteousness of God. I had 
been his pastor for fourteen years, and had 
during that time labored much with him in 
public and in private. He was a constant at- 
tendant upon all our religious meetings, and 
was as exemplary in his outward walk as most 
Christians. He knew he could not be saved by 
his own works, but still hoped that his out- 
ward morality and inward anxiety would in- 
duce God to give him a new heart. After 
conversing with a number of other persons 
about their salvation, I came to this old man, 
and on saying a few words to him, I found him 
as usual, waiting for a new heart. I told him 
that I had labored more with him than with 
any other member of my congregation, and 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 39 

that it had done him no good; that he had 
lived through a number of revivals of religion, 
without deriving any benefit from them, and 
that I had made up my mind that he must 
then give himself up to Christ to be saved by 
him, or I must give him up as an old sinner, 
who would not have Christ to reign over him. 
He seemed shocked at the thought of having 
his pastor give him up, and with deep anguish 
of mind entreated me not to abandon him as 
an incorrigible sinner. I told him that he was 
an old man, who from a child had known his 
Master's will, but refused to do it ; that his 
heart was constantly growing harder, and his 
iniquities were multiplying ; that he was then 
in the midst of a powerful work of grace ; that 
his Christian friends were praying for him, and 
his pastor, as the ambassador of Christ, was 
entreating him to be reconciled to God, and it 
seemed to me, if he suffered the present season 
to pass without availing himself of offered 
mercy, there would be no hope in his case. 
He entreated me to pray for him ; but I told 
him, that unless he would repent of his sins, 
and give himself up to Christ, prayer could do 
him no good, and before I could pray for him ? 



40 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

I must have him answer the question, which I 
had so often put to him, viz. : " Will you now 
submit yourself, unconditionally, into the hands 
of the Saviour ?" After a short, though terri- 
ble, conflict with his self-righteous heart, he 
answered, with many tears, " by the help of 
God, I will." I knelt by his side and united 
with him in prayer. When he arose he was 
full of joy and peace. 

That evening, at a prayer-meeting in the 
neighborhood, he got up and earnestly exhort- 
ed sinners to repent and submit themselves to 
Christ. " Don't put it off as I have done, but 
do it now, it is only a moments work? 

He lived about ten years after this, an ex- 
emplary and active Christian, and when I 
visited him on his death-bed I found him trust- 
ing in the sinner's Friend. 

" It is but a moments work? How true this 
is. It is only to give up our controversy with 
God ; only to accept the offer of pardon and 
eternal life, made to us by the bleeding 
Saviotje. 

Reader, have you neglected this moments 
work ? Are you still like the old man, going 
about to establish your own righteousness and 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 41 

rejecting the righteousness of God ? If so, as 
though God did entreat yon by me, I pray 
you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 



THE BOY WHO DARE NOT GO HOME BEFORE HE 
REPENTED. 

At a time of unusual interest in my congre- 
gation, we held our prayer and conference 
meetings in the court-house. At these meet- 
ings we used, after a season of prayer, to give 
an opportunity for the pastor and elders to 
converse individually with such persons as were 
anxious about their own salvation. In one of 
these seasons of conversation an intelligent 
and well-educated boy of twelve years, came to 
one of my elders, in great distress of mind, and 
inquired what he should do. The elder in- 
quired what made him feel so distressed. The 
lad replied that he saw he was a great sinner 
in the sight of God, and was afraid that he 
should go to hell. He was then told that he 



42 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

must go home and read the Bible, and pray to 
God to give him a new heart. 

The boy replied, with deep emotion, " Sir, I 
am afraid if I wait to get home, I may die by 
the way, and then it will be too late." 

The elder felt reproved by this simple illus- 
tration of his bad counsel, and told the young 
inquirer, that if he was afraid to go home in 
his sins, he must then repent and believe in 
Christ, and submit himself into his hands. 
The boy complied with this last advice, and 
went home rejoicing in hope. At a suitable 
time he made a public profession of religion, 
and has now been a member of the Presbyte- 
rian church for thirty years, and is proving the 
genuineness of his conversion by a well-order- 
ed life and conversation. 

Reader, was this boy wise in not daring to 
go home in a state of condemnation and death ? 
Was it possible that he might die on the road 
and lose his soul ? If so, would it not have 
been the height of folly for him to jeopardize 
his salvation when it was in his power to se- 
cure it on the spot ? If these questions must 
be answered in the affirmative, can there be 
any greater folly practised in this world than 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 43 

putting off things that belong to our peace % 
The Saviour informs us that all things are 
ready, and that those who come to him He will 
in no wise cast off. He tells us of a poor fool 
who lost his soul, by presuming that the next 
day would find him in the land of the living. 
The Holy Spirit tells us, " now is the accepted 
time." And if we do not hear his voice to- 
day, we will be hardening our hearts. Our 
own observation tells us, that life is uncertain, 
and when we are flattering ourselves with the 
hope of long life, death may be at the door. 

Will you then, with all these monitions be- 
fore your eyes, expose your precious soul to the 
endless agonies of the second death, by refus- 
ing to submit to the Saviour now ? If this 
little narrative should fall under your eye, 
whoever you may be, let the wisdom of this 
child admonish you to neglect no longer the 
things which belong to your peace. Fly, O, 
fly, to Christ ! Escape for your life, look not 
behind you. If you put the Saviour off to-day, 
to-morrow may find you with the rich man, 
lifting up your eyes in hell, being in torment, 
and asking in vain for a drop of water to cool 
your tongue. 



44 INCIDENTS IN A 



THE YOUNG LADY WHO WAS SORRY SHE HAD 
COME TO THE MEETING OF INQUIRY. 

At a meeting of inquiry which I held at a 
time of general interest in my congregation, a 
young lady who had been anxious about her 
soul for many months, with whom I had been 
conversing, rose up suddenly and left the room. 
I could not account for this singular movement 
until I saw her return with a young friend, 
who had not attended my meeting before, 
during the progress of the revival. I sat down 
by the new comer and inquired into the state 
of her mind on the subject of religion. She 
told me that she had no special concern about 
herself, that she had been induced to come to 
the meeting by the solicitation of a young 
friend, and not by the promptings of her own 
heart. 

" Are you not sensible that you are a great 
sinner in the sight of God V 

" I am intellectually convinced of this fact, 
but do not feel it." 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 45 

" Do you not know that as a sinner you are 
in a state of condemnation and death ?" 

" I know I shall be condemned if I do not 
repent before I die." 

" The Bible tells us that they who believe 
not are condemned already. The sentence of 
condemnation is passed upon you, and you are 
only waiting, like a condemned criminal, for 
the order of execution. How long God may 
suffer you to live in this condemned state, be- 
fore the sentence shall be executed, is quite 
uncertain, but while He does spare you, it is 
to give you an opportunity to obtain a par- 
don." 

" This is a new view of the subject, but it 
seems from the Scriptures it must be correct." 

" Do you not remember that God has said 
in His word, ' Because sentence against an evil 
work is not executed speedily, therefore the 
hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them 
to do evil.' " 

"I do, and I remember that you once 
preached from that text." 

" Is not this your condition ? Does not your 
heart take encouragement from God's delay of 



46 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LITE. 

the execution of His sentence to continue in 
impenitence V 

" I am afraid it is even so, my sins are very 
great." 

" Is not your conduct in this thing despe- 
rately wicked ? You are abusing the grace of 
God, by employing the time which He has 
given you to repent and obtain pardon, in sin- 
ning against Him." 

" I feel that I am without excuse." 

" God is yet waiting to be gracious, and it is 
my duty, as a minister of Christ, to offer you 
the pardon of your sins, and all the blessings 
which the Saviour has purchased for His peo- 
ple, if you will give your heart to Him. Will 
you accept of this offer, or will you reject it 
again ?" 

" I am not prepared to give an answer at 
this time." 

I then told her the offer was made to her 
by her Saviour, that I was only acting in His 
name, and in the nature of the case she must 
either reject or accept, and I desired an answer 
that she might know what she was doing. 

She replied, " I am not prepared to accept, 
arid I dare not refuse." 



47 



" Do you not see that you must either accept 
Christ now or reject Him again V 

" I do see it, and feel it, too, and am trulj 
sorry that I came to this meeting." 

" Your staying away from the place of reli- 
gious inquiry would not have relieved you 
from your responsibility, though it might have 
prevented you from seeing your guilt as you 
now see it. Every time through your life, 
when Christ has been presented to your mind, 
by preaching, reading, religious conversation, or 
meditation, you have rejected Him, and the 
guilt of all those accumulated acts are record- 
ed on high, and I want to have you now de- 
termine whether you will reject your Saviour 
again, or here terminate your rebellion by sub- 
mitting yourself to Him." She sat for nearly 
half an hour in deep thought, the agony of 
her mind evidently increasing all the time, 
when she said, " I will rebel no longer, pray 
for me that I may have grace to give myself 
up to my Saviour." 

We knelt down together, and I offered a 
short prayer for her, but she remained on her 
knees, silently pleading for pardon, some min- 
utes after I had ceased, and when she arose 



48 INCIDENTS HST A PASTOE's LIFE. 

she came to me smiling through tears, and 
giving me her hand, said, " I hope I have 
given myself away to Christ, but I am afraid 
I may be deceived." At that moment she 
fixed her eyes on a young companion, who sat 
weeping in another part of the room, and run- 
ning to her she caught her in her arms, and 
exclaimed, " O, Louisa ! Louisa ! I don't know 
but I am deceived about myself, but I know 
that Christ is willing to receive just such poor 
sinners as you and I are, and I do entreat you 
to go to him now while he is waiting to be 
gracious." 

In a short time Louisa began to rejoice with 
her young friend, but the latter, while she 
spoke feelingly of the preciousness of Christ, 
would add to almost every sentence, "But 1 
am afraid I may be deceived." 

After she became a little composed in her 

feelings, I said to her, " Well, M , if you 

should find on examining your heart, that you 
are deceived, what will you do V 

" O," said she, " I will repent and give my 
self up to Him and put my trust in Him." 

She soon became clear in her hope, and 
some time after made a profession of religion. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LEFE. 49 

and is now a reputable member of the Church 
of Christ. 

I am aware that there are some good men 
who are afraid of these sudden conversions, but 
from an experience of more than thirty years, 
much of the time in revivals of religion, I can 
testify that those who have been previously 
instructed in the doctrines of our holy religion, 
and have, under the strivings of God's Spirit, 
been brought thus intelligently and heartily to 
give themselves away to Christ, have made 
more active, and warm-hearted, and steadfast, 
disciples, than those who have come into the 
church when there was no special attention, 
and who have been months under concern of 
mind. The truth is, the instrument which the 
Holy Ghost employs to convince of sin, and 
of unrighteousness, and of judgment, is the 
word of God ; and when the sinner is pricked 
in the heart by the truth, clearly seen, and 
throws himself at the foot of sovereign mercy, 
whether the struggle is one of a month, or 
day, or hour, the length of time will neither 
add to, nor the shortness of the process de- 
tract from, the evidence of the genuineness of 
the work. 

3 



50 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

I have usually found, that when the sinner 
could be brought to feel that he had a contro- 
versy with God, and that Christ, as the media- 
tor, was offering him pardon, and that he must 
of necessity either accept of the terms of the 
gospel, or reject the offer, he would tarry long 
away from Christ. It is a dreadful thing, when 
Jesus brings the dying sinner a pardon bought 
with his own blood, to have the condemned 
creature refuse to accept ; and few are so hard- 
ened as to be willing with their eyes open to 
assume the responsibility. 

The difficulty is, that sinners generally feel 
that they do not reject the Saviour, but are 
merely deferring a decision of the great ques- 
tion. They have not yet made up their minds, 
and when they do they intend to accept of 
Christ. This is the manner in which Satan 
deceives those who have a speculative belief 
in the Christian system. This error I have 
always labored to remove ; and when, by the 
help of God's Spirit, I have been successful, I 
have usually found that the greatest obstacle in 
the way of submission to Christ was gone, and 
the sinner was not far from the kingdom of 
God. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 51 

Header, is this the way by which the great 
deceiver has hitherto kept you from the throne 
of grace ? If so, "be entreated to look at the 
subject in the light of God's word. You know 
that you are a lost sinner, that God has given 
his well-beloved Son to die for you, and that 
He has sent his ministers into all the world 
to carry the offers of eternal life to those, who, 
like yourself, are in a lost and perishing con- 
dition. As one of these ministers, I have 
written the foregoing narrative to show how 
easy it is to come to Christ ; and I would now 
lay his offer of pardon before you, and as 
though He did beseech you by me, I would 
pray you in his stead to be reconciled to God. 
Now is the accepted time ; all things are 
ready. The Father is ready to adopt you into 
his family ; the Saviour is ready to wash your 
guilty soul in his own blood ; the Holy Spirit 
is ready to take up his abode in you, and the 
holy angels are ready to rejoice over you as a 
sinner brougltt to repentance. The consent of 
your own heart, to the offer which I make you 
in the name of your Saviour, is all that is 
wanting to fill you with joy and peace in be- 
lieving. And will you withhold that consent ? 



52 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

If you do, remember that you have again re- 
jected the offer of eternal life, and will be 
called to answer for it in the last day. 



THE DANGERS OF PUTTING OFF THE THINGS 
WHICH BELONG TO OUR PEACE. 

Many years ago an interesting young man 
moved into the village where I was settled, 
from the State of Connecticut, to pursue the 
mercantile and milling business. He attached 
himself to my congregation, and was a con- 
stant attendant upon my ministry on the Sab- 
bath. But the cares of this world, and the 
deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other 
things, choked the word that it brought no 
fruit. He was prosperous in business, and 
accumulated property very fast. Travelling 
one day to a village thirty-five miles west of 
us, he told a young companion, who was going 
with him, that he was convinced the Bible was 
the word of God, and religion was important 
and necessary, and that he had made up his 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 53 

mind, in three years from that day, when he 
thought he should have obtained an independ- 
ant property, to retire from the bustle of busi- 
ness, and give his serious attention to the sal- 
vation of his soul. 

He went to the place of his destination, and 
stayed there until the next day, when he started 
to return home, but had not got half way be- 
fore he was seized with cold chills, which were 
followed by a raging fever, and he was brought 
home some time in the night in a state of wild 
delirium. 

In the morning I was sent for by some of 
his Christian friends, for he had no family, 
to go and see him. I did so, and found him 
under the influence of a typhoid form of bil- 
lions fever. He lay most of the time in a stu- 
pid state, from which, when he was aroused, he 
knew me, but his mind was wild and wander- 
ing. I visited him often during the few days 
that he lived, but never found him sufficiently 
rational to attend to the things which belonged 
to his peace. He languished for nearly a week 
and then died — two years and fifty-one weeks 
before the time which he had set to prepare 
to meet his God. Like the young man spoken 



54 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

of in the gospel, he had said to his soul, " Take 
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, for I have 
much goods laid up for many years, and to- 
morrow shall be like to-day." But, alas, the 
morrow, though it came, was to him the com- 
mencement of a short and fatal . sickness, of a 
hopeless death-bed, and to all human appear- 
ances, of a miserable eternity. O ! how often 
had I warned that young man of the uncer- 
tainty of life, and entreated him not to boast 
of to-morrow. How often, as an ambassador 
of Christ, I had besought him to be reconciled 
to God ; but he said to his blessed Redeemer, 
" Go thy way this time, when I have a conve- 
nient season I will call for thee." But that 
convenient season never came. 

Impenitent reader, was this young man 
wise ? Would it not have been more rational 
for him to have sought first the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness, and then have re- 
lied on the divine promise that what was need- 
ful for him should be added ? But if this 
would have been the wise course for him, then 
it is the wise course for you, and I would en- 
treat you to let his folly lead you to be wise, 
and his sudden and unexpected death admon- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 55 

ish you of the uncertainty of life, and induce 
you to attend to the things which belong to 
your peace while it is called to-day. " The "re- 
demption of the soul is precious and it ceaseth 
forever." • 



THE WOMAN WHO COULD NOT GIVE UP HER 
HUSBAND. 

In the spring of 1844 a lady came to my 
meeting of inquiry in great agony of mind. 
On inquiring what it was that disturbed her 
so much, she answered that she was a lost sin- 
ner. 

I told her that was indeed true, but Jesus 
Christ came into the world to seek and to save 
that which was lost, and if she was sensible of 
her perilous condition she should go to him. 

She answered, with deep emotion, while the 
tears were streaming down her cheeks, that 
there was an insurmountable obstacle in the 
way of her coming to Christ. 

I inquired what that obstacle was which 



56 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

could keep her away from her precious Sa- 
viour. 

She replied, "KI come to him I must give 
up everything into his hands, and be willing 
to have him dispose of me and mine as He 
will ; but my husband is an impenitent man, 
and is very dear to me, and I am not willing 
to give him up. He is the idol of my heart." 

" My dear Mrs. D., can you take your hus- 
band out of his Maker's hand, or in any way 
benefit him by staying away from Christ, and 
thus destroying your own soul ? Would it not 
be better for you to give yourself up to him, 
and in this way put yourself in a position to 
pray for your husband, and by your pious ex- 
ample lead him to the Saviour ?" 

" Yes, this would be my best course, but how 
can I do this, while my heart cleaves to the 
partner of my bosom, and I cannot give him 
up?" 

" But you have just admitted that he was 
in the hands of the Lord, and that your rebel- 
lion against your Maker could do him no good, 
why then should you encourage him in sin by 
your example V 

" I know it is all wrong, but my husband 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LITE. 57 

lies so near my heart that I cannot give him 
up. I feel that he is my idol." 

" Well, madam, you see that one of three 
things must then take place, — : either you must 
give up your husband, or God must take him 
away, or your own soul must perish." 

" I know it is so ! I see it ! I feel it in my 
heart, and that is what distresses me." 

"Well, madam, if one of these things must 
take place, you should make up your mind 
accordingly, and as a wise woman choose now 
which of the three you will prefer. If your 
husband stands in the way of your salvation 
will you give him with your own soul up to 
Christ ? Or must he be removed out of your 
way ? Or will you perish." 

She remained silent for some time, her 
bosom convulsed with sobs of anguish, and 
then, with a countenance full of joy, exclaimed, 
" Oh, I can give up my husband, and my own 
soul, too, into the hands of my blessed Re- 
deemer. I will submit, I will be his !" 

I prayed with her, and advised her to go 
home and examine herself to see that her sur- 
render was an honest, and a whole-hearted one, 
3* 



58 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

and that her trust was alone in the mercy of 
God, through the blood of the Cross. 

In a short time after this interview with the 
wife the husband indulged a hope in Christ, 
and at the next communion they were both, 
with, as near as I can now recollect, forty 
others, received into the church. 

Six years have since passed away, and she 
who could not give up her husband, is, with 
him, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in 
the comfort of the Holy Ghost. 

Header, have you an impenitent companion ? 
If you have, instead of suffering an idolatrous 
affection for him, or her, to keep you away 
from Christ, let your love for the soul of such 
companion lead you to go immediately to your 
Saviour, that your believing prayers, your 
pious conversation, and Christian example, 
may co-operate with the spirit of God to lead 
your loved one to the foot of the Cross. 

Husbands and wives are not aware of the 
influence which they are exerting upon each 
other. They are all the time either co-operat- 
ing with Satan to lead their companions down 
to hell, or they are co-workers together with 
God in preparing them for eternal glory. God 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 59 

has instituted this endearing relation, not only 
to make us happy here, but that our sanctified 
affections might co-operate with his word and 
Spirit to prepare those to whom we are con- 
nected by this bond, to enter with us into that 
glorious kingdom which Christ has prepared 
for those who love him. 



CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE. 

A young lady from a neighboring town 
called on me one afternoon to inquire what 
she must do to be saved. I pointed out the 
way of salvation to her as well as I knew how, 
but she could find no relief to her troubled 
spirit. 

In spite of all I could say to her, she would 
still cleave to the notion that she must make 
some progress in reform before she came to 
Christ. 

I preached a lecture that evening to my peo- 
ple from 1 John ii. 1 — " We have an advocate 
with the Father." 



60 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

In the course of my sermon I endeavored to 
show my impenitent hearers what they must 
do if they would have Christ for their advo- 
cate, by referring to the practice in courts of 
justice, where a man who employed a lawyer 
to prosecute or defend his cause must give the 
entire management of the matter into his hand. 
I told them this was true of the great advocate 
with the Father, While he offered himself 
freely to all, He would engage for none who 
would not leave their soul's salvation entirely 
in his hands. If they would meddle with it 
at all, He would leave it with them, but if 
they would trust it with him He would appear 
for them before the .great white throne and be 
their advocate and intercessor. 

After sermon, as I came down from the 
desk, the young lady met me with joy beam- 
ing from her countenance, and clasping my 
hand in hers, she exclaimed, " O, I am happy ! 
I am happy ! I have found an advocate with 
whom I can trust my cause !" 

She returned home that evening, and I have 
never seen her since, but from what conversa- 
tion I could have with her, I felt that the 
Holy Spirit had directed me to that text, that 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 61 

He might make it a savor of life unto life to 
her lost soul. 

What a beautiful illustration such cases fur- 
nish of the liberty and responsibility of the 
sinner, and of the electing love of God. 

Christ was freely offered that night to every 
sinner in my congregation, and they were all 
free to have chosen him as their advocate, and 
yet He was as a root out of dry ground to all 
of them, except that stranger whose heart the 
Lord opened. She " worked out her own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling, while it was 
God who worked in her to will and do of his 
own good pleasure." 



62 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 



THE WOMAN WHO KEPT OUT OF THE WAY. 

In 1815, while spending a Sabbath in a 
place where they had no stated preaching, I 
put np with a deacon in the church, whose 
sister-in-law had come from a neighboring 
town to spend the Sabbath with him. She 
was a gay, thoughtless girl of about eighteen 
years of age. Knowing that her widowed 
mother was a pious woman, and felt anxious 
about her daughter, I wished to have some 
personal conversation with her before she w^ent 
home. She seemed to be aware of my inten- 
tion, and so entirely avoided me, that I had no 
opportunity of speaking to her, until she was 
ready on Monday morning to return home. 
When she started, I accompanied her to the 
door, and as I assisted her to get on her horse, 
I told her that I was deeply concerned for her 
soul, 1 felt that she was in imminent danger, 
and entreated her to remember her Creator 
now in the days of her youth. She made me 
no answer, but rode off, and I felt that I had 
lost an opportunity of doing her good. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 63 

About a year afterwards, I was sent for to 
administer the sacrament to that church, and 
after the preparatory lecture, the deacons told 
me there was a candidate to be examined, who 
I found to be the young woman that so skil- 
fully avoided me on a former occasion. 

On inquiring what it was that first called up 
her attention to her lost condition, she inform- 
ed me that it was the few words I said to her 
when helping her on her horse. That they 
rung in her ears all the way home, and de- 
prived her of rest until she found it in Christ. 

I mention such cases as this for the encour- 
agement of Christians, to be instant out of 
season as well as in season, in warning sinners 
to flee from the wrath to come. 



64 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 



THE DYING GIRL'S MESSAGE TO HER FATHER. 

I once was called on to go two or three 
miles to see a girl who it was thought would 
live but a short time. On arriving at the 
house where she lay, I found that she was the 
daughter of a man who had been brought up 
by pious parents, but had entirely neglected 
the religious education of his own children. 

This one had become a poor abandoned 
creature, and had brought herself to a prema- 
ture death-bed by her manner of life. 

I found her in great distress of mind. The 
instruction received from her grand-parents 
was sufficient to show her that she was a lost 
sinner, and her life had been such that she had 
nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment, 
and fiery indignation from the presence of the 
Lord. I tried in vain to show her that there 
was provision made for the chief of sinners, 
and that even she would find mercy at that 
late hour, if she would repent and put her 
trust in Christ. But she felt that there was 
no hope for her, that her day of mercy was 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 65 

passed, and that in a few hours she should be 
in hell. I did all I could to lead her to Christ, 
but in vain. 

Before I left her, she requested me to see 
her father, and tell him from her, that her soul 
was lost, that she should soon be with the 
damned, and that he was responsible for her 
ruin. " O," said she, in an agony of despair, 
"if he had brought me up as his father did 
him, I should not now be lying upon this hope- 
less death-bed." 

She died, I think that night, in the dreadful 
state in which I found and left her, furnishing 
another illustration of the guilt and danger of 
parental unfaithfulness. 



66 incidents nsr a pastor's life. 



A REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 

As Christians love to contemplate the grace 
of God in bringing sinners to Christ, I have 
thought that it might he interesting to the 
reader to have me place among the incidents 
of my pastoral life a brief narrative of a work 
of grace which occurred in my congregation 
in the winter of 1826 and 1827. 

The ordinances of the gospel had been regu- 
larly administered, and the word of God stated- 
ly preached there for a little more than ten 
years, and the church had during that period 
been blessed with frequent seasons of refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord. But for 
two years next preceding the time above men- 
tioned, there had been fewer conversions to 
Christ, and less deep seriousness in our village, 
than at any time since my coming to that 
place. Though my people were orderly, and 
regular in their attendance at the sanctuary on 
the Sabbath, yet our weekly lectures and 
prayer-meetings were poorly attended, and the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LITE. 67 

means of grace seemed to produce less effect 
than was usual among us. 

In the latter part of June, arrangements 
were made for celebrating the fourth of July 
in the usual manner, but a few Christians,- feel- 
ing that they could not enjoy such a celebra- 
tion, resolved to meet by themselves and ob- 
serve the day as a season of thanksgiving to 
Almighty God for our great national blessings. 

This measure was severely censured by some 
of the people, and many predicted a thin at- 
tendance at the sanctuary. One prominent 
member of my congregation remarked that, 
the pulpit would accommodate all who would 
wish to attend. But notwithstanding all the 
opposition, and ill-natured remarks, when the 
day arrived, the sanctuary was crowded at an 
early hour, and though seats were brought 
into the aisles, the congregation could not all 
be accommodated, and the gentleman who had 
predicted that the pulpit would hold all that 
would attend, was not only deprived of a seat, 
but could not get farther than the door of 
the vestibule, where he stood on his feet 
through the whole service, a deeply attentive 
hearer of the discourse. 



68 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

I preached on the occasion from Exodus xii. 
14. " This day shall be unto you for a memo- 
rial, you shall keep it a feast to the Lord 
throughout your generations." 

I endeavored to show that if the day was 
kept at all it should "be observed as an annual 
thanksgiving, or a feast unto the Lord. 

Contrary to all expectation the political 
celebration, which was held in a grove, was 
poorly attended, and many, as I afterwards 
learned, felt while there a conviction of the 
inconsistency and impiety of observing the 
day in such a manner. 

In the course of the next day the general 
conversation in the street, and in the places of 
public resort, was the religious celebration of 
the fourth of July. Though some affected to 
despise it, the most were convicted in their 
hearts, that to be consistent we should either 
renounce our belief in our obligation to God 
for our national independence, or regard the 
day as a thanksgiving to him. Conversing 
with a lawyer, who was a prominent man in 
the political celebration, he said to me, " I am 
convinced that Christians ought to observe the 



INCIDENTS EN" A PASTOK's LIFE. 69 

day as you have, but those who have no reli- 
gion will long keep it in the other way." 

From this day the conversation through 
our village was more on the subject of religion 
than it had been for a long time. The people 
seemed to feel that if Christians regarded reli- 
gion of sufficient importance to have it govern 
them in their public festivities, it was time for 
them to inquire whether they could do without 
it. The people of God, too, seemed to have 
received a new baptism of the Spirit, and 
became more deeply affected with the condi- 
tion of dying souls around them. 

A female prayer-meeting, which had been 
neglected for many months, was revived, and 
a youths' prayer-meeting was established and 
kept up once a week. Our stated prayer- 
meetings were well attended, and a spirit of 
earnest and agonizing prayer began to prevail 
among the members of the church. 

In the latter part of September, a few sin- 
ners began to attend our prayer-meeting, and 
on the thirtieth, a young lady was, in the judg- 
ment of charity, renewed by the Holy Ghost. 

Christians seemed to consider this as a token 
of God's readiness to hear his people when 



10 INCIDENTS IN A 

they cried unto him, and they felt that they 
could not let the Saviour go without a bless- 
ing. 

Our prayer-meetings now became more fre- 
quent, and when two or three Christians would 
meet together accidentally, or on business, 
they would generally spend a few moments in 
prayer. In the course of a week there were 
two more hopefully brought to Christ ; and by 
the fifth of November there were sixty-five 
indulging hopes, and some thirty-eight were 
added to the church. 

From this Sabbath the work seemed rapidly 
to decline, and continued to do so uDtil the 
enemies of religion began to rejoice aloud that 
the excitement, as they called it, was over, and 
only a few young people and children had 
been affected by it. The triumphing of the 
wicked, and the sighs and tears of God's peo- 
ple, were for several days seen and heard in 
our streets, and I have no doubt they were 
known in Heaven. 

On the next Sabbath I preached, with an 
aching heart, from the text, the triumphing of 
the wicked is short. In this discourse I en- 
deavored to show that though they might 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOB's LIFE. 11 

grieve away the Spirit, and might be permit- 
ted, as some were then doing, to triumph over 
those who were weeping over them, and cry- 
ing to God night and day for their salvation, 
yet their triumph would be a short one. God 
would soon wipe away the tears from the faces 
of his children, when those who now rejoiced 
over them would be filled with shame and 
everlasting contempt. 

At the close of the exercises, Monday was 
appointed as a day of humiliation and prayer, 
and when it came it found the whole church 
with one accord in one place. Christians were 
deeply humbled under a sense of their sins, 
and, with many tears, poured out their agoniz- 
ing prayer to God, that for his holy name's 
sake, He would hear the voice of our supplica- 
tions and revive us again. 

Tuesday and Wednesday the little church 
continued instant in prayer. On Wednesday 
afternoon, as we were all on our knees in the 
parlor of a private house, one of our elders, an 
old man full of the Holy Ghost, while plead- 
ing, with sobs and tears, for the return of the 
blessed Comforter, said, in a tone of humble 
confidence, " O, Lord, open our eyes that we 



72 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOk's LIFE. 

may see as thy servants did of old, that there 
are horses and chariots of fire between us and 
our enemies, and that they that be for us are 
more than they who are against us." This ap- 
peal went to all our hearts like an electric 
shock, and we all felt that we could rejoice 
and trust in God, and go forward. That even- 
ing, November 29th, at our weekly Wednes- 
day evening lecture, two or three individuals 
requested the prayers of God's people, and that 
night one of the leading physicians in the place 
obtained comfort from the Lord. 

The next morning, as we were a few of us 
met at his house for prayer, his wife requested 
us to pray for a sister of his, who was up-stairs 
in deep distress of mind. While we were on 
our knees praying for her, that she might 
be brought to submit herself to God, and 
put her trust in the crucified Saviour, she 
came down so full of joy and peace, that she 
wished us to return thanks to the Lord for 
snatching her as a brand from the burning. 
She told us that she had resisted the strivings 
of the Spirit, and had rejoiced when- she 
thought the revival was over; but now she 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 73 

could not be thankful enough that God had 
not given her up to walk in her own way. 

A new impulse was now given to the work. 
Friday and Saturday were days of much fer- 
vency of prayer, and several were brought to 
submit themselves unto God. 

The Sabbath was a solemn day, and I trust 
a day of salvation. 

On Monday evening, at my meeting of in- 
quiry, the room was crowded with anxious 
sinners, and two precious souls, we had reason 
to hope, were in that meeting delivered from 
their bondage to Satan. 

The next morning, as I was going into a 
house where the man and his wife were the 
night before convicted of sin, a young man 
came running across the street, and in great 
distress threw his arms around me, and be- 
sought me to pray for him. I told him I could 
not do so there, but I would meet him in 
thirty minutes at Mr. Herrick's, a merchant 
who had recently been converted to Christ, 
and pray for him. I went into the house 
where I had intended to visit, found the man 
and his wife both without hope, and told them 
they might meet me in half an hour at the 
4 



74 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

place I had appointed for the young man. I 
went immediately to Mr. H.'s, and told him we 
would a few of us be. at his house at nine 
o'clock, to spend an hour in prayer. I then 
notified two or three Christians of the meeting 
which I had thus unexpectedly appointed, and 
at nine we commenced praying with three or 
four, or perhaps half a dozen, Christians, and 
four anxious persons. As soon as we began to 
pray, the Spirit of God seemed to come down 
with great power, and three of the four 
anxious persons soon began to rejoice in the 
Lord. " When these things were noised 
abroad the multitude came together," and in a 
short time two good-sized rooms, which opened 
into each other, were crowded to overflow- 
ing. The Spirit continued present with his 
regenerating influence, and many who came to 
see what was doing, went away rejoicing in 
Christ. 

At noon I endeavored to send the people 
away, but they would not be persuaded to 
disperse, and the whole day was spent in 
prayer and religious conversation. 

When the evening came I sent them home, 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 75 

but not until I had promised to meet them 
there the next morning at nine o'clock. 

That evening we had a prayer-meeting in 
the court-room, which was much crowded and 
very solemn, and several there indulged a 
hope of pardon and eternal life. At nine 
o'clock the congregation was dismissed, and 
we returned home with more of a disposition 
to pray than sleep. 

Wednesday morning at nine, I met the con- 
gregation again at brother H.'s, but the assem- 
bly, by the time I arrived, was so large that 
we were obliged to remove to the court-house, 
which was filled to its utmost capacity with 
Christians and anxious sinners. The whole 
congregation of the impenitent were by this 
time ready to acknowledge that this was the 
work of the Lord, and each one felt a deep 
interest about his soul. We remained here 
with an hour's intermission, until nine at night, 
when the congregation were again reluctantly 
sent away. 

The next morning we met at the sanctuary 
to observe our annual State thanksgiving. 
The house was so greatly crowded at an early 
hour, that though it was large, and the aisle 



76 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOk's LIFE. 

supplied with benches, all could not be seated. 
An awful solemnity pervaded the whole assem- 
bly, and for a time the only noise that was 
heard was the half-suppressed sobs which now 
and then escaped from an overburthened soul. 
Never before had I beheld so solemn an assem- 
bly, and never, before or since, have I felt so 
deeply the awfulness of the divine presence. 
When the hour of service had arrived I 
preached from the words, " Rejoice with trem- 
bling," and never have I felt so much like a 
dying man preaching to dying men. 

Through the remainder of the week, the 
court-room was crowded from nine in the 
morning until nine at night with praying and 
inquiring souls, and very many of our leading 
citizens were brought to put their trust in the 
Lamb of God. 

The next Sabbath was our communion, and 
eighty-six persons were received into the 
church. 

From this time the revival was less power- 
ful, though a pleasing work of grace continued 
through the winter. 

From the last week in September until the 
last week in January, there were about three 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. T7 

hundred hopeful conversions in my own con- 
gregation, and two hundred and twenty of 
them became members of the Presbyterian 
church of which I had the charge. Of those 
who made a profession of their faith, as the 
fruits of this work, eighty were heads of fami- 
lies, twenty-one the husbands of pious wives ; 
and of the whole, one hundred and twenty- 
seven were baptized in their infancy. The 
converts were of all ages from the old man 
of seventy to the child of eight years old ; 
and of all classes, professions, and callings. 

Though the work was deep and solemn the 
most perfect order prevailed throughout. I 
knew of but one case through the whole revi- 
val in which there was anything like disorder, 
and that was a female who was so overcome 
by the anguish of her soul that she gave vent 
to her feelings in cries of distress. Our even- 
ing meetings were always dismissed by nine, 
though those who had the command of their 
time would often assemble afterwards at some 
private house and spend much of the night in 
prayer. 

Convictions of sin were usually very deep, 
and in many instances so overpowering that 



78 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

the subjects of them would be confined to 
their beds until they obtained comfort. Sin- 
ners were taught experimentally that the 
heart was wholly opposed to God, and they 
must be saved by grace if saved at all. 

The church was greatly refreshed by this 
work, and the members were large partakers 
of that love, and joy, and peace, which are the 
fruits of the Spirit. 

Sinners who were not converted were bene- 
fited, too, by this work. They were many of 
them reformed in their outward conduct, and 
all seemed to have their consciences quick- 
ened, and to have imbibed a higher respect 
for religion than they had before. 

There was no re-action at the close of the 
work, but its sweet savor remained, and was a 
blessing to all. I do not believe that there 
were three impenitent sinners in the place who 
would not at any time within a year, have re- 
joiced to have had just such another work of 
grace. 

I have never seen or heard of a revival, 
since the days of the apostles, in which the 
presence and power of the Holy Spirit was so 
manifest. While Christians were greatly en- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK'S LITE. 79 

couraged to work, they felt that all the power 
must come from God. 

I had no assistance from abroad, except four 
or five sermons from neighboring pastors ; but 
what I lacked of help from without was made 
up to me by the efficient labors of my elders, 
and the other members of the church. The 
brethren, like the disciples who were scattered 
abroad by the persecution which arose about 
Stephen, " went everywhere preaching the 
word." Our females, too, though they acted 
upon the principle that "women must keep 
silence in the church," were untiring in their 
humble and inobtrusive labors of love. All 
felt that each one had a place, and that it was 
their privilege and duty to be found in that 
place. 

I never before knew how much moral power 
there was in a church, nor understood the 
responsibility of the brethren and sisters to 
God. It is not the minister alone in whose 
skirts the blood of souls will be found if he is 
unfaithful, but every member of his church 
who does not, by a pure and holy life, by un- 
ceasing and earnest prayer, and by all the 
influences which he can exert, aid and assist 



80 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

Lis pastor in bringing souls to Christ, will have 
to divide the responsibility with him. In my 
extensive field, I could have done but little 
without this aid ; with it the whole field was 
occupied, and an abundant harvest was 
brought into the garner of Christ.. 



THE DREADED VISIT. 

Theee was in my congregation a public 
house, in which neither the landlord nor his 
wife were professors of religion. It was quite 
a resort for the thoughtless and profane, and I 
dreaded visiting the place, but conceiving it to 
be my duty, I nerved myself up to the task. 
I was respectfully received and invited into 
the sitting room, where I found the tavern 
keeper and his wife alone. I conversed with, 
or rather talked to them, about the interests 
of their immortal souls, endeavored to show 
them the responsibility of their station, and 
urged them to give immediate attention to the 
things which belonged to their peace. But 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LITE. 81 

could get no other answer than a promise from 
the landlord that he would think of it. I left 
the house with a heavy heart, feeling that I 
had done them no good. 

They soon left the place, and I knew no- 
thing of them until ten years after my visit, 
when I received a very kind note from the 
man, informing me that the conversation 
which seemed to be so little regarded, had 
resulted in the conversion of both himself and 
wife. 

I record this incident in my pastoral life as 
an encouragement to ministers and Christians 
to go forward in their labors of love, and never 
suffer themselves to be deterred from warning 
sinners to flee from the wrath to come by the 
fear of a cold or unkind reception. We must 
avail ourselves of every opportunity to exhort 
and entreat sinners to be reconciled to God, if 
they hear us we shall save a soul from death, 
but if they refuse to hear, their blood will be 
upon their own head, and God will not require 
it at our hands. 



4* 



82 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 



THE INFIDEL BIBLE CLASS. 

When I first commenced my ministry in the 
city of * * * * I found that there was a 
large class of intelligent and influential men 
who professed to be infidels, and kept aloof 
from all the means of grace. Instead of going 
to church on the Sabbath they would usually 
meet together to strengthen each other in 
their loose sentiments. Feeling a strong desire 
to bring them under the influence of the Gos- 
pel, I gave public notice on the Sabbath that 
the next Lord's day evening, I would state the 
evidences upon which I received the Bible as 
the word of God, and if any one chose he 
might, in the course of the week, send me, 
anonymously, his objections to those evidences, 
or might state the reasons upon which he 
founded his infidelity, and if the communica- 
tion was respectful and not unreasonably long, 
I would read it on the following Sabbath even- 
ing to the congregation, and answer it. In the 
course of the week, I received a well-written 
communication, impugning the evidences I had 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 83 

stated as those on which I rested the claims of 
the Bible to our belief, and some arguments in 
favor of infidelity. 

On Sabbath evening, I found that my house 
was crowded, and that the individuals for 
whose benefit I had instituted this kind of 
meeting were there. I read the communica- 
tion, and answered it as clearly as I was able, 
and gave liberty for the continuance of the 
same course every week until I should give 
notice to the contrary. 

I continued in this way to receive and an- 
swer infidel objections through the winter, and 
had the satisfaction of finding that my labors 
were not in vain in the Lord. A number of 
that very class were convinced of the divinity 
of the Holy Scriptures, and were subsequently 
brought into the church. 

The course which I adopted operated in the 
following manner : 1st. It convinced infidels 
that ministers did not wish to stand aloof from 
them or call them hard names, but that we 
are willing to meet them on common ground, 
and affectionately to reason with them upon 
the subjects about which we differ. 

2d. When they sat down to write out their 



84 incidents m a pastor's life. 

objections to the Bible, and the religion which 
it teaches, they found that they had not as 
many arguments in support of their theory as 
they had supposed. 

3d. "When some of their leading spirits 
would send me a communication containing 
what they had all been in the habit of con- 
sidering unanswerable arguments against the 
Bible, and they saw how easy such objections 
were disposed of, and how illy they could bear 
examining in the light of truth, it shook their 
confidence in the wisdom of their leaders, and 
in their own safety, and made them desirous 
of knowing more about the Christian religion. 

4th. Last, but not least, it brought them 
under the influence of the gospel, which was 
made to many of them the power of God, and 
the wisdom of Grod, unto salvation. 

The great difficulty of converting infidels 
does not lie in the strength of their arguments, 
but in their prejudices against Christianity, 
and in their ignorance of the abundance of the 
evidence in favor of the Bible and the religion 
which it teaches. The great mass of them are 
not only ignorant of the Bible, and of what 
Christianity is, but of the facts upon which the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 85 

infidel argument rests. They take refuge in 
infidelity to get rid of the restraint which the 
Bible imposes upon their lusts and affections, 
and not because they have given the subject a 
candid and careful examination. " The fool 
hath said in his heart there is no God." It is 
his heart, and not his understanding, which 
leads him away from the Holy One ; and we 
wish to bring him under the influence of the 
gospel, not so much to enlighten his mind as to 
be instrumental in the renovation of his heart. 



THE WOMAN WHO WAS AFRAID OF HER HUSBAND. 

A woman came into my meeting of inquiry 
in deep distress of mind, who I found upon 
inquiry was much alarmed about her condition 
as a lost sinner, but had been kept from the 
Saviour by the fear of her husband. 

I endeavored to shoAv her that she should 
fear God and obey him, and then leave her 
husband where she had left her own soul — in 
the hands of the Saviour. 



86 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

After a severe struggle in her mind, the 
Lord seemed to have caused her heart to re- 
ceive the truth, and she became quiet and 
happy. But before she left the meeting she 
came to me and inquired what she should do. 
Her husband, she said, was a man of violent 
temper, and he was desperately opposed to 
religion, and she felt really afraid to have him 
know what her feelings were. 

I told her to go home, and as soon as she 
could see her husband alone, to tell him what 
she hoped the Lord had done for her soul, 
and to entreat him affectionately to go along 
with her in the service of her blessed Re- 
deemer. This was just before I dismissed my 
meeting for dinner. 

In the afternoon I had not been long in the 
meeting before this woman entered it with her 
husband, though he had never been in the 
habit of attending religious meetings. God 
had made the affectionate appeal of his wife 
like an arrow in his heart, which had left a 
wound that could only be healed by the blood 
of Christ. In the course of the afternoon, he, 
too, could rejoice in his Saviour, and went 
home with his wife to erect a family altar. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 87 

In a few weeks they both united with the 
church of which I was the pastor, and up to 
the latest knowledge I had of them they were 
beloved and respected members. 

I have known many instances where the 
conversion of the wife has led to the salvation 
of the husband, and the conversion of the hus- 
band to the awakening and conversion of the 
wife; and I cannot but feel that impenitent 
husbands and wives will be responsible to God 
for the loss of each others' souls. If either 
would repent, and do works meet for repent- 
ance, the truth spoken in love by the con- 
verted companion would be the most powerful 
means that could be employed to bring the 
unconverted one to Christ ; and when they 
live on in sin together, and die and go down 
to hell, their blood will be required at each 
others' hands. 



88 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE WORKING CARD. 

In the fall of my first year at * * * *, my 
clmrcli became anxious that we should have a 
protracted meeting or some special effort for 
the salvation of sinners. For various reasons 
which I need not mention here, I was opposed 
to a protracted meeting at that time among 
my people. 

In the course of the week I prepared the fol- 
lowing card : 

RESOLUTIONS, 

Adopted by the bearer of this Card. 

1. Resolved, That as I am a sinner, redeem- 
ed by the blood of Christ, I will do all that I 
can to save the souls for whom he died. 

2. Resolved, That to prepare myself to do 
good to others I will strive to have the same 
mind in me which was in Jesus Christ. 

3. Resolved, That I will from time to time 
select from among my neighbors some one or 
more individuals with whom I will, in tender- 
ness and affection, labor steadily, daily, if pos 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 89 

sible, or even many times a~day, until God shall 
either bring them to Christ, or I shall be con- 
vinced that I should give them up. 

4. Resolved, That I will carry those with, 
whom I thus labor on my heart, and pray for 
them continually, and with them frequently, if 
they will permit me so to do. 

5. Resolved, That while I labor, and pray 
for the salvation of sinners I will depend alone 
on the Holy Ghost to make me successful in 
my work. 

I had enough of these cards printed to sup- 
ply every member of the church with a copy, 
and on the next Lord's day distributed them, 
with the understanding that so long as any 
individual should retain his card he should 
consider himself bound by the resolutions, and 
when he wished to be released from them he 
must return the card to me. 

The next night after the distribution I was 
called from my bed to go and visit a distressed 
sinner, which was a commencement of a work 
of grace that continued with us all the fall and 
winter, and resulted, as I trust, in bringing 
many souls to a knowledge of the Saviour. 

A reason that Christians' labor with the im- 



90 INCIDENTS IN" A PASTOR'S LITE. 

penitent is not more productive is, that it is 
so much scattered that the impression made 
by one visit is worn out before another is 
made, if made at all, and thus Satan has a fair 
opportunity of catching away the word out of 
the heart. But if the labor should be followed 
up every day, and the truth in this way kept 
burning upon the heart and conscience, the 
result would astonish the most sanguine la- 
borer. He would find that God was not 
unfaithful to forget his work and labor of love, 
nor forgetful of the promise that he that 
should go forth weeping, bearing precious 
seed, should doubtless come again rejoicing, 
bringing his sheaves with him. This is a kind 
of labor that we need at this day ; it is one, 
too, that the weakest brother, or sister, in the 
church can perform, and one which will act 
upon those labored with, and re-act with 
power upon the heart and life of the laborer. 

Let me entreat the Christian reader to try 
the experiment and see if he will not water 
and be watered also himself. 

First, think much of your own obligation to 
Christ, and pray much to God to restore unto 
you the joys of his salvation, and uphold you 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 91 

by his free spirit, that you may be prepared to 
teach transgressors their ways, and that sin- 
ners may be converted unto him. Don't ask 
to have the joys of your salvation restored 
that you may be happy, but that you may be 
useful. Selfishness is the gangrenous part of 
the body of sin and death, and Christians 
should endeavor to keep it out of their hearts. 
Secondly, Select from among your acquaint- 
ances one or more that you will be most likely 
to have an influence with, write their names in 
a book, and on your own heart, and in your 
labor and prayers with and for them, bear in 
mind that the redemption of their souls is pre- 
cious, and that it will soon cease forever. This 
will keep you much at the throne of grace, 
and will increase and sweeten your communion 
with God, while it will elevate your Christian 
affections, and imbue your heart with the love 
of souls. 



92 incidents in a pastor's life. 



THE FAMILY THAT HAD NEVER READ THE BIBLE. 

In the progress of a revival of religion in 
my congregation in the winter of 1830 and 
1831, one of the brethren, who was visiting 
families in a border settlement, went into a 
house where he found the woman alone. On 
conversing with her on her religious feelings, 
she told him that she did not know anything 
about religion. He inquired if she had never 
attended a meeting, or read the Bible ; she 
said she had not since she was old enough to 
remember anything about it. 

He then commenced giving her a brief ac- 
count of the Creation, and of the fall of man, 
and of the plan adopted by God for his 
recovery. When he had proceeded as far as 
the fall, and its consequences upon the human 
family, and told her that she was herself, in 
consequence of it, a sinner against God, and as 
such exposed to his wrath in hell to all eter- 
nity, she became deeply distressed with a 
sense of her lost condition, and wept bitterly. 

He next told her of the provision which 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 93 

God had made for her salvation, and exhorted 
her to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, that she might be saved. On hearing 
this she became composed and happy, and 
requested him to wait until she went and 
called her husband, adding that he needed this 
Saviour as much as she did. 

He did wait, and when the husband came 
in, found him almost as ignorant as the wife, 
and repeated to him the epitome of the Bible 
history, apparently with the same effect which 
it had produced on the woman. He spent 
most of the afternoon with them in prayer 
and conversation, and when he came away left 
them both hoping in Christ. 

I visited the family soon after myself, and 
found them hoping, and anxious to learn all 
that they could about the Bible, neither of 
them being able to read. They continued 
attentive to all the means of grace, and in pro- 
cess of time became members of the church, 
dating their hope back to the visit above 
mentioned. 

They did not remain in the place a great 
while after they united with the church, but 
while they remained with us gave us no reason 



94 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

to doubt the sincerity of their profession, or 
the genuineness of their conversion. 

If these were truly converted to Christ, as I 
hope they were, they, like those Samaritans 
who believed on the word of the woman from 
the well, had to rely on the testimony of an 
uninspired individual, and will be swift wit- 
nesses against those sinners who, though 
brought up as it were in the house of God, 
and with the Bible in their hands, reject the 
counsel of the Most High against their own 
souls. 

It may seem strange to some that there 
could be such ignorance in this Christian land, 
but to my knowledge this is by no means an 
isolated case. I once saw a lad of fourteen or 
fifteen who appeared like a bright boy, but 
neither knew who made him, nor that there 
was any such a person as Jesus Christ. And 
yet this boy had parents, and lived in a neigh- 
borhood where the gospel was occasionally 
preached. 

These things ought not so to be, and if 
Christians would do their duty such gross 
darkness could not be found in any neighbor- 
hood where the people of God were living. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE* 95 



THE DIFFUSIVE NATURE OF TRUE RELIGION. 

During the progress of a revival of religion 
in my congregation, a young lady came from a 
neighboring town to visit an uncle, and re- 
mained several days. While she was with us 
she became sensible of her lost and perishing 
condition as a sinner, and sought and found a 
resting place in the redemption purchased by 
Christ. She was a member of a select school 
in her own neighborhood, which consisted of 
sixteen young ladies ; and when she returned 
home she availed herself of the earliest oppor- 
tunity to tell her young school mates of what 
the Lord had done for her soul, and was ready 
to do for theirs, if they would only repent of 
their sins, and embrace the blessed Eedeemer. 
The Holy Spirit seemed to use her instrumen- 
tality in operating on their hearts, and in a 
few days they were all rejoicing with her in 
hope. 

The pastor of the young lady, who was an 
excellent man, perceiving what the Lord was 
doing among his people, invited me to come 



96 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

over and preach a few times for him. I com- 
plied with his request, and spent two days in 
the place, preached three times, attended three 
meetings of inquiry, and, in company with the 
worthy minister, visited many families. We 
scarcely spoke with an individual, while in 
that neighborhood, who did not appear deeply 
anxious about the salvation of his soul, and 
was not ready to inquire, " What must I do 
to be saved V The work continued to spread, 
and under the faithful and judicious instruction 
of their spiritual guide, one hundred and four- 
teen immortal souls were in a few weeks 
brought, in the judgment of charity, to the 
foot of the Cross, and were, in due time, 
added to the church. 

Here seemed to have been three important 
agencies, without which we are not authorized 
to say that this rural parish would have been 
visited with this precious outpouring. 

First. There was the agency of a faithful 
pastor, who had for years been instructing the 
people in the great doctrines and duties of our 
holy religion, and thus preparing them for 
such a work of grace. 

Secondly. There was the agency of this 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 97 

young female, whose heart the Lord had 
opened, in the revival in my congregation, to 
receive the truth, and bear it to her young 
companions. They had been taught by their 
parents, and by their pastor, the great doc- 
trines of our holy religion, but now they heard 
them from the lips of a young companion, in 
the glowing language of a young heart beam- 
ing with love to her Redeemer, and love to 
the souls for whom he had bled and died. 
And, 

Thirdly. There was the powerful agency of 
the Holy Ghost, without which all other agen- 
cies will be unavailing, bringing to the remem- 
brance of the people the words of truth, so 
often spoken in love by the pastor, and remov- 
ing those worldly objects from around the 
heart, which had hitherto prevented the light 
of the glory of God, shining in the face of 
Jesus Christ, from illuminating the dark mind. 

I have recorded this incident among the 
reminiscences of my pastoral life for the pur- 
pose of showing the reader how much good 
may, and oftentimes does, flow from the faith- 
ful labors of one warm-hearted child of God ; 
and how fearful a responsibility those will 



98 INCIDENTS IN 

incur who entirely neglect to do anything by 
way of personal effort for the dying souls 
around them. God works through the agency 
of his people, and the walls of the spiritual 
Jerusalem are only built when the people have 
a mind to work. We can trace a visible con- 
nection between the efforts of this new convert 
to Christ, with her young companions, and the 
blessed work of grace in the congregation to 
which she belonged, and we are not authorized 
to say that there would have been any special 
work there at that time if those efforts had 
been wanting. They seemed to have formed 
an important link in the chain of God's pur- 
poses of mercy to that place, and may have 
been as indispensable as the continuance of the 
mariners in the ship was to the preservation of 
Paul and his companions from a watery grave. 
And who can tell how often the faithful efforts 
of an individual may be all that is wanting to 
make it consistent for God to j>our out his 
Spirit, and save hundreds of souls. 

Reader, are you sure that it will not appear 
in the judgment-day that your neglect has 
often stood in the way of such a work of the 
saving power of your heavenly Father ? And 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 99 

if it should be so, will not the blood of souls 
be in yov/r skirts f 



THE GIRL WHO WAS AFRAID OF HER PARENTS. 

Among the individuals who were present, on 
a particular occasion, in one of my meetings 
for conversation, was a young woman who was 
in very deep distress. On inquiring the cause 
of her anguish of mind, she said she was a lost 
sinner, and was afraid of the wrath of God. 

I inquired if she did not know that Jesus 
came to save lost sinners. 

She replied that she did, and had long 
known that fact. 

" And why then," said I, " do you not go to 
him and be saved ?" 

" I am a stranger in this place. My mother 
and her husband who is my step-father, are 
both angry at me for attending these meet- 
ings, and if I should become a Christian they 
will turn me out in the streets." 



100 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

" And is this all that keeps you away from 
Christ F 

" I think it is all that prevents me from 
being a Christian." 

" But you must remember the words of the 
Lord Jesus, that those who esteem father or 
mother, or even their own lives, more than 
him cannot be his disciples ; and that if you 
are more afraid of the displeasure of your 
earthly parents than you are of the righteous 
displeasure of God, you must remain in a state 
of condemnation and death." 

" O, I cannot do that," she exclaimed, the 
tears streaming down her cheeks, " I cannot do 
that." 

"Well, Miss, you must either do that, or 
you must be willing to be cast out from house 
and home for Christ's sake." 

She remained for some time in great agony 
of spirit, and then, with a smile of joy shining 
through a profusion of tears, said, " I will be 
the Lord's." 

I asked her if she had counted the cost, and 
meant to adhere to her purpose, though it 
might expose her to all that she feared. 

She said she thought she had, and felt that 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 101 

without any reserve or condition, she had 
thrown herself upon the mercy of her blessed 
Saviour. 

She returned home that evening, and to her 
surprise and joy found her mother in deep 
distress about her own salvation, and neither 
parent ever made any further objections to her 
serving the Lord according to the dictates of 
her own conscience. 

I have never ventured to persuade sinners 
that the sacrifices consequent upon their be- 
coming pious would be less than they feared, 
but have endeavored to show them that they 
ought to prefer suffering any amount of afflic- 
tion with the people of God, rather than enjoy 
the pleasures of sin for a season. 



102 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 



THE PERSECUTED WIFE. 

Among the members of my church was a 
woman of great delicacy of feeling, and of 
ardent and consistent piety, who had a hus- 
band that was a Universalist, and possessed a 
violent and ungoverned temper. He was 
much displeased with his wife for her religious 
predilections, and often reproached her as a 
bigot, and a fanatic, because she would not go 
with him to the universal meeting. 

To sustain his reputation as a gentleman he 
used often to attend our meeting, when the 
Universalist did not preach, and treated me 
with great respect when I visited his house. 

One Sabbath, when I preached in the morn- 
ing at another place, the Universalist preached 
in the village, and as the wife could not attend 
my morning service, her husband urged her to 
go with him to the place of universal meetiDg. 

She told him that God had directed his 
people, "If any one came among them and 
did not bring the doctrine of Christ, to go not 
after him, neither bid him God speed, for those 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 103 

who encouraged him would be a partaker of 
his evil deeds." 

He told her that she could do as she pleased 
but if she did not go and hear his minister in 
the morning, she should not go to hear me. 
In the afternoon, seeing his wife dressed for 
church, he inquired where she was going. 

She replied, " to meeting." 

He responded that he had told her, if she 
did not attend meeting with him in the morn- 
ing, she should not go in the afternoon. 

She then told him, with great gentleness, 
that he knew she had lived with him a great 
while, and done all she could to make him 
happy, and had never disobeyed him, except 
when his commands conflicted with the plain 
commands of her heavenly Father, but in such 
cases she must obey God rather than man. 

Upon hearing this he flew in a great rage, 
and • told her that if she went to hear me 
preach that afternoon, she should never again 
enter his house. 

She went to meeting as usual, but when she 
returned he met her at the door, and pushing 
her off the steps with violence, told her to be 
gone and return no more. 



104 INCIDENTS EST A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

She made no reply, but went to her daugh- 
ter's, who lived in the village, and was told by 
her son-in-law to make their house her home. 

In the evening, the husband, having got 
over the violence of his passion, and beginning 
to feel the loneliness of his situation, came to 
his son-in-law's, and asked his wife if she was 
not going home. 

She told him that he had turned her out of 
his house, and forbidden her to return — that 
the Bible taught, that where the husband or 
wife was pious, and the other party was not, 
it was the duty of the believer to continue 
with his or her companion, and do them all 
the good possible ; but if the unbeliever chose 
to depart, or separate from his or her believing 
companion, he might depart, and the brother 
or sister was no longer under bondage. That 
she had acted upon that principle, and had 
borne much abuse from him for Christ's sake ; 
but now, as he had broken his marriage con- 
tract, and caused a separation, she did not con- 
ceive herself any longer under bondage to 
him, and did not calculate to return. 

He went away deeply mortified, but in some 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTOR'S LIFE. 105 

anger, and spent the night with his afflicted 
children. 

The next morning he returned, but found 
her firmly adhering to her resolution, and 
though she treated him with respect and kind- 
ness, she utterly refused to return with him. 
In the evening he came again, and appeared 
broken down and humbled, and acknowledged 
that he had treated her improperly, and pro- 
mised that if she would forgive him and return 
to him, he would never again treat her un- 
kindly, or cross her in her religious feelings. 
Upon receiving these assurances she returned 
with him, to the great joy of himself and his 
children, and I have reason to believe that to 
the day of her death he kept his promise. He 
was finally won, by the blessing of God upon 
the example and conversation of his wife, and 
before she died she had the comfort of seeing 
him unite with the church of which she was a 
member. 



106 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE DAILY PRAYER MEETING. 

At a time when there was no special atten- 
tion to religion in my congregation, I suggested 
to my Elders, the plan of having a daily 
prayer meeting in one of the basement rooms 
of our church, through the fall and winter. 
They were pleased with the suggestion, and 
we adopted the following regulations, etc. : 
The janitor was to open the house, and keep 
the room warm, from nine in the morning until 
twelve, and from two in the afternoon until 
four. Any Christian who felt that he would 
like to spend a little time, within those hours, 
in prayer, was invited to go to that place, and 
if there should be no one there, to kneel down 
alone and plead with the hearer of prayer, to 
pour out his Holy Spirit upon our city, and 
if there were any there, to spend the time in 
united prayer with those assembled for the 
same object. All had the privilege of remain- 
ing as long or as short a time as they pleased. 

The impenitent were informed of the meet- 
ing and invited to attend it, at any time, and 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LITE. 107 

at all times, when they wished to be where 
the people of God were assembled to pray for 
them. 

The result of this arrangement was, that 
there were usually two or three Christians on 
their knees in that place, pleading the pro- 
mises, that where that number should meet in 
Christ's name, he would meet with them, and 
that when they should agree touching any- 
thing they might ask, he would do it for them. 
If a brother or a sister had only time to unite 
in one season of prayer, they would join that 
little circle, and if an impenitent sinner wished 
to hear the voice of prayer, he or she would 
visit that place. I used to go there as often 
as I could, and usually found from one to fif- 
teen or twenty engaged in prayer, and often- 
times a number of impenitent persons, whom 
the Lord had directed to our little Bethel. 

The Almighty heard the prayers which 
were constantly going up from that place, and 
shed down his Spirit like the dew upon the 
mown grass, and like gentle showers that 
water the earth, and our basement room be- 
came the birth-place of souls, as well as a place 
of refreshing to the people of God. This plan 



108 INCIDENTS m a pastoe's life. 

consumed but little time, broke in upon no 
business arrangements, created no unusual ex- 
citement, and made no noise ; and yet was a 
means in the band of God of strengthening 
the graces of his children, and of bringing 
many souls home to their Heavenly Father. 
Though there was at no time what would be 
called a powerful revival, yet there was a 
gentle work of grace going on in my congre- 
gation through the entire period of our meet- 
ing ; and its precious influence upon the church 
and society was visible for a long time, and, I 
have no doubt, was an occasion of joy among 
the angels in Heaven. 

It seems strange to me when I look at the 
precious promises made to humble importunity 
to God, and at the same time look at the great 
company of dying sinners by which we are 
surrounded, that Christians are not more con- 
stantly on their knees at the throne of grace. 
The Lord loves the souls of dying sinners, 
and is more ready to give his Holy Spirit for 
their conversion, than parents are to give 
bread to their hungry children ; but to render 
it consistent for him to come down in his 
saving power, He must be sought unto by his 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 109 

children to do it for them. " The salvation of 
Israel must come out of Zion, and when she 
travails she shall bring forth." 



THE CONVERSION OF A LITTLE CHILD. 

In the congregation where the writer was 
first settled, there was a little boy who had been 
consecrated to God in baptism at eight days 
old, and carefully taught the great truths of re- 
ligion, as fast as his opening intellect was capa- 
ble of understanding them. He never knew a 
day when his parents did not bend the knee 
morning and evening in family prayer, and 
had no recollection of the first time he was 
carried to the house of God ; nor could he re- 
member when he did not know that he was a 
lost sinner, and that Jesus Christ was crucified 
for his salvation. 

When this child was a few days short of five 
years old, his father took him in his arms and 
carried him to our Wednesday evening confer- 
ence and prayer-meeting.' That evening I read 



110 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

a chapter in the Bible, and after I had lec- 
tured upon it, gave all present an opportunity 
to ask questions in relation to the subject of 
the discourse ; when, to my surprise, the little 
boy, with great modesty and much feeliug, 
made several inquiries respecting the meaning 
of the chapter, in a way that satisfied me he 
was making application of its truths to his own 
case. 

After meeting, his father took him in his 
arms and carried him home, when the boy re- 
marked that he was very glad he had been to 
the meeting, it made him feel so very happy. 

From that evening the child appeared as if 
" old things had passed away, and all things 
had become new." His closet was his chosen 
retreat, in which he spent much time, and 
where he experienced some sore temptations 
from the adversary of souls. He frequently 
came from his place of prayer with his eyes 
filled with tears, and told his mother the joys 
or sorrows he had experienced there. When 
playing with his young associates, if they used 
bad language, he would reprove them with 
tears, and leaving them return to his quiet 
home. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. Ill 

At thirteen lie united with the church of 
Christ, and has now been for sixteen years 
preaching the gospel, and has been a means in 
the hands of God of bringing hundreds to 
Christ. 

How much encouragement parents have, 
both from the promises and providences of the 
Most High, to offer up their children a " living 
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God," and to 
be instant in season and out of season, by ex- 
ample and precept, to train them up in the 
" nurture and admonition of the Lord." How 
could these parents have brought a richer re- 
ward of glory to the divine name, or contrib- 
uted more to the eternal well-being of the 
human family, or done more to provide a 
rich inheritance for their child, than they did 
in dedicating and bringing him up for Christ ? 
They might have brought him up to shine in 
the circles of fashion, or to amass wealth, or to 
exert a commanding influence in the senate or 
at the bar ; but if they could have secured for 
him all these distinctions, how mean and con- 
temptible they would have appeared in com- 
parison with the durable riches which his 
religious education was the means of conferring 



112 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

on him. All earthly distinctions are short- 
lived, and must soon pass away, but they that 
a be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament, and they who turn many to right- 
eousness as the stars forever and ever." 



THE LORD OFTEN IN ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS 
GIVES US BETTER THINGS THAN WE ASK. 

When I first took charge of the church in 
* * * *, all the prominent men were riving 
without God in the world. Among this class 
were our two leading physicians, who, by 
their horse-racing and gambling, and ungodly 
conversation, were poisoning the morals of the 
rising generation, and encouraging those of 
riper years in the way of sin. 

I felt very deeply the deleterious influence 
which these two men were exerting ; and see- 
ing no other remedy, I besought the Lord to 
send us a pious physician, that our people 
might have the privilege, when sick, of having 
a man to attend them, who, instead of having 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LITE. 113 

his mind filled with the race-course and the 
card-table, would be under the influence of the 
fear of God. My heart was greatly set on 
this thing, as a blessing I thought indispensa- 
ble to the interests of religion in that place. 
But while I was praying for it, to my inex- 
pressible joy the Holy Spirit came down and 
reclaimed the two wicked ones, and brought 
them into the church, and made them active 
and successful in counteracting the evil which 
they had been doing in the community. The 
ablest of the two, in due time, was chosen as 
one of our ruling elders, and became a most 
efficient helper in the work of the Lord. 

If the Hearer of prayer, in answering my 
petitions, had sent me my pious physician, we 
should still have had the influence of these two 
prominent men to contend against ; but in his 
better way we were relieved from this evil 
influence, and had two pious physicians instead 
of one, and men who possessed the confidence 
of the people, instead of a stranger, who 
would have had for a long time but a limited 
influence among us. 



114 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 



A REVIVAL RESULTING FROM AN OVERSIGHT IN 
THE CHURCH. 

A congregation in central New York was 
thrown into great disorder, and for years had 
its influence for good paralyzed by a quarrel 
between two of the leading families in the 
village. Various efforts had been made to 
settle the difficulty without effect, when the 
church, with the consent of the contending 
parties, agreed to submit the whole matter to 
a number of ministers not belonging to that 
presbytery, of whom I was one. Invitations 
were accordingly sent to those persons who 
had been agreed on by the church and the 
parties, and we all assembled on the day ap- 
pointed, to enter upon the business for which 
we had been selected. I was chosen chairman 
of the council, and the parties were present 
with their advocates and their witnesses, all in 
readiness to commence the contest. But as 
the council belonged to other presbyteries thau 
the one with which that church stood con- 
nected, I called for the commission under which 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 115 

we were to act, when to our surprise we were 
informed that their presbytery had not even 
been consulted on the subject. We at once 
agreed that we had no power to act officially 
in the matter, but recommended to the church 
and the parties, to unite with us in a season of 
prayer, for the gracious interposition of God's 
Spirit. All seemed to fall in with this pro- 
posal, and we adjourned from the place which 
was intended as the arena for a desperate 
conflict between the brethren, to a place where 
prayer was wont to be made. As this was 
about ten o'clock in the morning, we continued 
at the throne of grace until twelve, when we 
had a recess for dinner. After dinner we re- 
assembled, and engaged again in our supina- 
tions for the restoration of peace and love to 
that afflicted church. In a short time one of 
the contending parties came forward, and with 
many tears confessed that he had been awfully 
guilty, and begged the forgiveness of God, of 
the other party, and of the church, for his 
unchristian conduct. As soon as he sat down 
the other party came and insisted that he was 
the guilty originator of the trouble, and that 
if his brother had done wrong, it was in con- 



116 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

sequence of provocations which he had given, 
and he wished the forgiveness of his brother, 
and of the church, and of God. The two 
principals having thus been brought to repent- 
ance, those who had become their partisans 
followed their example, and for a long time we 
sat there hearing brethren who had been en- 
gaged in an unholy strife, confessing their sins 
one to another, and praying one for another. 

That prayer-meeting was not only the end 
of contention between those two familes, but 
the commencement of a revival of religion in 
that place, during which many souls were, in 
the judgment of charity, converted to Christ. 

Had the church taken the regular steps in 
this case, and provided a commission for us 
from their presbytery, we might have decided 
the question of right and wrong ; but through 
this oversight all parties were driven to the 
throne of grace, and the Lord in answer to 
the prayers, subdued the hearts of the bellige- 
rent brethren and thus removed the obstacles 
out of the way of sinners, and prepared the 
church for a glorious outpouring of the Spirit 
of God. 

Contentions among brethren always grow 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTORS LIFE. Ill 

out of their want of a heavenly mind, and 
usually take place in the absence of the 
sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit. 
Churches should therefore labor to keep near 
the throne of God, and should tremble when 
they see his reviving and sanctifying presence 
is withdrawn. 

Individual Christians ought also to feel, that 
when their bodies cease to be the living tem- 
ples of the Holy Ghost, they know not to 
what great lengths they may go in wickedness. 
The Saviour has taught us that if we love him 
and keep his words, the Father will love us, 
and He and the Father will come unto us, and 
make their abode with us. Here is safety, but 
it can be found no where else. 

My Christian brother, does Christ manifest 
himself in this way to you ? If so, give him 
all the glory, and be careful to do nothing that 
will drive him from you; but if not, give 
yourself no rest until you can feel the presence 
of your blessed Saviour. The evidence of our 
discipleship, is Christ formed in us the hope of 
glory. 



118 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE CONVERTED RUMSELLER. 

Among the members of my congregation 
was a man who availed himself of a grocer's 
license, to sell intoxicating drinks, in connec- 
tion with a dry goods business. His dram- 
table in this connection was very productive. 
It not only yielded him the profits on a large 
amount of liquor sold, but brought to his store 
many persons who wished to buy dry goods, 
and after they had been there a little time 
made them feel rich, and induced them to buy 
many things which they would not have pur- 
chased if they had not been drinking. 

I had labored much with him, but had not 
been able to make any perceptible impressions 
on his mind. The love for his ungodly gain 
had closed up every avenue to his conscience, 
and there seemed to be but little hope of his 
ever being reformed. But what was impossi- 
ble with man was easy with God. Previous 
to a communion season, I preached upon the 
subject of Hezekiak's Passover. The rum- 
seller was present on the occasion, and the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 119 

spirit of the Lord sent the truth to his heart. 
He went home, but could not rest. He felt, 
as he afterwards told us, that the Almighty- 
had proclaimed a passover, and had sent the 
priests to invite all the people to come and keep 
a feast unto the Lord, and that one of the 
Lord's messengers had invited him, but by his 
own wickedness he was disqualified to come. 
This train of thought haunted his imagination 
all night, and the next morning he gave the 
key of his store to one of his clerks, and tried 
to divest himself of his painful feelings, by 
walking about the fields, and amusing himself 
with what he might see. But which ever way 
he turned, the preparation for the passover 
was before him, and the invitation of the 
Lord's messenger was ringing in his ears. In 
the afternoon, as a number were engaged in 
prayer at a brother's house, the rumseller came 
in, and with deep feeling informed us of his 
state of mind, and besought us to pray for 
him. We did so ; and many supplications went 
up to the throne of grace for the salvation of 
this hitherto incorrigible sinner. He remained 
with us, and in the course of the afternoon we 
could say of him as was said of Saul of Tar- 



120 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

sus, " Behold he prayeth." He expressed 
his hope in the forgiving mercy of God, and 
went home rejoicing in his Saviour. But we 
who had known him long, and who knew the 
sacrifice he would be called to make, had many- 
fears that his apparent change would be like 
the early cloud and the morning dew. 

The next morning he called at my house, to 
converse with me about the great things which 
the Lord had done for him. In the course of 
our conversation, I said to him, " Mr. L., are 
you sensible of the sacrifice which you will 
have to make, if you would be a follower of 
Christ V He started as if he was alarmed, 
and earnestly inquired, " what sacrifice ?" 

I replied that he would have to give up his 
trade in alcoholic drinks. " O !" said he, seem- 
ing to be greatly relieved, " I have done that 
already ; I directed my clerks last night never 
to sell any more intoxicating drink." Upon 
my expressing my joy at this resolution, he 
replied, " The only ground of acceptance with 
Christ is, that we shall give all up for him, and 
this was the condition upon which he accepted 
me, and do you think I would retain my rum 
table?" 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 121 

From that time this rumseller became a 
devoted Christian, and for twenty -four years 
he has been an active member of the Presby- 
terian church. 

Header, think of the condition upon which 
Christ accepted you, if you are his follower, 
and see to it that you keep nothing back, lest 
like Ananias and Saphira you should be found 
lying not unto man but unto God. 



A MAN COMPELLED TO COME IN. 

There lived in my congregation a lawyer 
of eminence in his profession, and of strictly 
moral habits ; but who was wholly devoted to 
his business, and heedless about the things 
which belonged to his eternal well-being. In 
a time of refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord, while a number of us were engaged in a 
prayer-meeting, I observed that one of my 
elders rose up suddenly and left the house. 
His mind, as he afterwards told me, became 
deeply impressed with the guilt and danger of 
6 



122 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

the lawyer of whom I have been speaking, and 
he resolved to make one effort for his salvation. 
In accordance with this resolution, he went 
directly to the office, where he found the man 
whom he sought, at the writing-table, deeply 
engaged in preparing for court. The elder, 
after the common salutations, said, " Mr. I., I 
want you to go with me to Mr. H.'s." " What 
for ?" inquired the man of the bar. " We 
have a prayer-meeting there," said the elder, 
" and I want you to attend it." " O," said the 
lawyer, " I cannot possibly do that, my busi- 
ness is crowding me, and I must attend to it." 
" Your business," said the elder, " is of no im- 
portance in comparison with the salvation of 
your immortal soul, which you are exposing to 
the miseries of hell, by every moment's delay." 
This plain address, with the solemn and earnest 
manner in which it was delivered, overcame 
the lawyer's resolution to continue at his busi- 
ness, and in a few moments, they both entered 
the prayer-meeting. We were engaged in 
prayer when they came in, and as soon as there 
was an opportunity, the elder said to me, " Mr. 
I. has come to this meeting, and I request an 
interest in the prayers of this assembly for the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 123 

salvation of his soul." As it was very evident 
from the appearance of Mr. I., that he had no 
objection to the proposal of his friend, we 
knelt down and united all our hearts in one 
voice, to plead for the soul of a man who 
hitherto had no disposition to pray for himself. 
The Lord heard our prayers, and before the 
close of the meeting, the lawyer indulged a 
hope in the grace of God, through his long- 
neglected Saviour. 

At the next communion he, with more than 
seventy others, united with the church. He 
was subsequently chosen, and ordained, to fill 
the office of a deacon ; in which capacity he 
served the church till the day of his death, 
which occurred about twenty years subse- 
quent to the time of his attending this prayer 
meeting. 

Header, here is another instance of the bless- 
ing of God attending the faithful and affec- 
tionate effort of an individual, to save a soul 
from death. Are you in the habit of making 
such efforts ? or does your cold heart wish to 
be excused from such a service ? Those whose 
hearts are as cold as your own will very 
readily excuse you now, but will your lost 



124 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

friends and neighbors, when they shall meet 
you at the judgment-seat, excuse you for not 
making every possible effort to save their 
undying souls from the lake that burns with 
fire and with brimstone forever ? 



THE DANGER OF PURSUING A BUSINESS WHICH IS 
INCONSISTENT WITH A REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 

There was in my congregation a man who 
lived by the profits of the gill cup and the 
gambling table. He was very popular, and 
made his business very profitable in a pecuniary 
point of light. He was deaf to all remon- 
strances of Christians, and was a means of 
doing much mischief to the souls of men. 

Our little church were in the habit, when 
they had tried all other means to remove such 
nuisances, of complaining of them to the Lord. 
They did so in this instance, and earnestly 
besought the hearer of prayer to save us from 
the influence of our drinking houses and 
gambling tables, and all those other corrupting 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 125 

practices, which, at that time, were fearfully 
prevalent. The Lord heard our prayers, and 
sent down his Holy Spirit in copious effusions 
upon our congregation, and through our vil- 
lage. Many rumsellers were converted, and 
gave up their business ; but the one which I 
have mentioned, obstinately held on his way. 
The revival, however, thinned out his cus- 
tomers, and so much lessened his profits, that 
he complained to a pious lady, who was con- 
versing with him on the subject of religion, 
that he was afraid the religious excitement 
would ruin him ; but still, he obstinately per- 
sisted in his work of death. 

In a little more than three years from the 
close of this work of grace, there were indica- 
tions of another refreshing from the presence 
of the Lord. But before there were any con- 
versions, the liquor seller above alluded to, was 
taken sick, and though neither his friends nor 
his physician considered his case at all dan- 
gerous, he requested to see me. I visited him 
and found him apparently much distressed in 
his mind, but unable to converse with me. He 
would often arouse himself, and with much 
interest in his looks begin to ask me some 



126 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE 

questions, or to tell me how lie felt, but before 
he could finish the sentence he would fall into 
a kind of uneasy sleep, or stupor. After pray- 
ing for him I left him, and before the next 
morning had dawned upon our village, the man 
who was afraid the revival would ruin him, 
had gone to the judgment, to meet those lost 
souls whom he had helped to destroy. 

This man had lived through one of the 
purest and most precious revivals that I have 
ever witnessed. He had been the subject of 
many prayers, and of some personal labors, 
but, like Balaam of old, he loved the wages of 
unrighteousness too well to exchange them for 
the glorious inheritance of the people of God. 
He hated and opposed the work of grace, 
because it conflicted with his unholy employ- 
ments. And the Almighty would not suffer 
him to see another outpouring of that Spirit 
which he had so often grieved. He was 
brought to the threshold of another glorious 
revival, but was not permitted to feel its 
awakening influence, nor to oppose its progress. 
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the right' 
eous out of temptation, and to reserve the 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 127 

wicked unto the day of judgment to be pun- 
ished. 

Reader, are you engaged in any business, or 
pursuing any course of life, which is inconsist- 
ent with the progress of a pure and powerful 
revival of religion? Are your employments 
and amusements, all of them, of such a nature 
that they could exist with the melting influ- 
ence of the Spirit of God in your own heart, 
and would be friendly to the progress of a 
work of grace in the hearts of those around 
you? If not, you stand in the way of the 
chariot of redeeming mercy, and are in danger 
of being crushed by it. O ! it is a fearful 
thing to resist God's work of love. When his 
people pray for the salvation of the world, 
they virtually ask the Almighty to remove 
incorrigible sinners out of the way. O ! how 
often I have seen the poet's fearful stanza 
verified : 

With dreadful glory God fulfils 
What his afflicted saints request, 
And with Almighty wrath reveals. 
His love, to give his children rest. 



128 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 



THE DANGER OF BEING ASHAMED OF THE WORK 
OF THE SPIRIT ON OUR OWN HEARTS. 

A man in my congregation, who was born 
of pions parents, was blessed with a pious wife, 
and was a constant attendant upon the ordi- 
nary means of grace, was once deeply awak- 
ened by the Spirit of the Lord. His wife was 
at the time of his awakening away from home, 
and when she returned she saw that something 
was the matter with her husband, but said 
nothing to him until they had retired to bed ; 
when perceiving that he could not sleep, she 
asked him what was the matter. He replied, 
with emphasis, nothing, intending, as he 
afterwards told a friend, to conceal from her 
his own state of mind. The moment the word 
passed his lips, all his conviction of sin, and all 
his concern about the salvation of his own soul 
were gone ; and though years have since passed 
away they have never returned. He is yet a 
constant attendant on the preaching of the gos- 
pel, and says he knows he is in the broad way 
to destruction, but has no feeling. 

What a fearful thing to be ashamed of, or to 



mcrDElSTTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 129 

trifle with, the gracious operation of the Spirit 
of God in the work of man's redemption ! If 
this man did not lie to the Holy Ghost, he lied 
about him, and grieved Him from him, while 
He was engaged in the gracious work of awak- 
ening him to a sense of his lost condition. He 
was ashamed of Christ, and though I do not 
consider his crime as coming within the defini- 
tion of that sin which hath no forgiveness, I 
am afraid it was such a grieving of the Spirit 
as will result in the execution of that fearful 
threatening of the Saviour : — " He who is 
ashamed of me in this wicked and adulterous 
generation, of him will the Son of Man be 
ashamed when He cometh in the glory of his 
Father and the holy angels." 

Reader, let me entreat you never to be 
ashamed of the work of the Holy Spirit upon 
your own heart. His visits are visits of love, 
and woe to that soul from whom He shall 
finally depart. 



130 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIEE. 



THE HAPPY INFLUENCE OF WELL-DIRECTED MEET- 
INGS OF THE JUDICATORIES OF THE CHURCH. 

The time has been when in central and 
western ]Sew York, the meetings of onr Pres- 
byteries and Synods left behind them an influ- 
ence for good. The brethren loved one an- 
other, and came together, not to engage in 
fierce disputes about comparatively unimport- 
ant matters, but to stir up each other's pure 
minds by way of remembrance, to pour out 
their hearts together at the throne of grace, 
and devise measures for promoting puie and 
undeiiled religion among the congregations 
under their care. This was peculiarly the case 
from 1816 to 1831, with the synod and pres- 
bytery to which it was the happiness of the 
writer to belong through all that period. Our 
meetings were holy convocations, and the 
churches all esteemed it a favor to have us 
meet with them. I would not be understood 
as making an invidious comparison between 
by-gone days and the present time, but simply 
state what I know, and testify what I have 
seen. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 131 

In 1830 I attended a meeting of the synod, 
which was all I have described, in its savour of 
godliness. The moderator, who preached the 
opening sermon, seemed to feel that he was a 
dying man preaching to dying men. He 
dwelt much upon the responsibility of the 
Christian ministry, and the encouragement 
they had to labor for Christ. All the busi- 
ness of the synod seemed to be conducted 
under the influence of a solemn sense of re- 
sponsibility to the great Head of the Church. 
I could not but feel that the members all went 
home with the full purpose of throwing them- 
selves, with all that they had, upon the altar, 
and laboring with a more untiring zeal in the 
work of the Lord. These were the resolutions 
with which I left that meeting, and my jour- 
ney home was a season of self-examination and 
of prayer for a fresh baptism of the Holy 
Spirit, and for the blessing of God upon my 
dying people. 

In a short time after my return, as one of 
our pious young men was reading a chapter in 
the Bible to a number of children who were 
assembled on Sabbath afternoon, for religious 
instruction, they became so impressed with the 



132 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

simple reading of the word of God, that many 
of them were weeping, before the chapter was 
ended, and they all seemed deeply convinced 
of their lost and perishing condition. This 
was the visible commencement of a work of 
grace which spread through our whole con- 
gregation. "We were soon obliged to have 
meetings for prayer and conversation every 
night, when there was not regular preach- 
ing ; and often at the close of our religious 
meetings, which were not held later than nine 
o'clock, a few of our young men would assem- 
ble at one of their offices or counting houses, 
and remain in prayer most of the night. For 
some time the whole moral power of the 
sacramental host seemed to be brought into 
requisition, and to bear with its whole weight 
upon the ranks of the impenitent. Religion 
was the universal theme of conversation among 
the righteous and the wicked, and whenever 
two or three Christians would meet together 
casually, or on business, they would not part 
until they had a season of prayer. There was 
no visible opposition to the work, all seemed 
convinced that it was of God, and to feel that 
it would be a fearful thing to be found fight- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 133 

ing against him. Two or three left the place 
to get rid of the importunity of their Christian 
friends, and to he away from the atmosphere 
of religion. 

On the first communion after the commence- 
ment of this precious work, one hundred and 
forty-four persons stood up in the sanctuary 
and avouched Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost, as the God, Kedeemer, and Sanctifier, 
of their undying souls. The season was one 
of overwhelming interest — it was a season of 
communion with Christ, and with a great 
company of redeemed souls, who had been 
recently brought into his kingdom. The 
young converts were rejoicing in the freshness 
of their first love, while older saints were sym- 
pathizing with the angels around the throne 
of God over those who had recently been 
brought to repentance. 

After the administration of the symbols of 
the broken body and shed blood of Christ, 
the communicants, with one accord, besought 
me to repeat the ordinance the next Sabbath, 
which I consented to do upon the condition 
that they would devote the whole week to 
prayer and labor for the salvation of those 



134 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

who yet remained impenitent. In the course 
of that week there were about seventy who 
indulged hopes, and on the Sabbath following 
about fifty more added to the church. The 
ordinance was repeated a third time, and, ac- 
cording to my present recollections, thirty 
more were added to the church. 

At the close of this blessed work, there 
were more than eight hundred communicants, 
and only eighteen adults who did not indulge 
a hope in Christ, in a congregation where four- 
teen years previous there were only twelve 
credible professors of religion. 

This revival I have always considered as 
one of the answers to the prayers of that 
synod, and one of the blessings which resulted 
from the influence of that meeting. And 
ought not some such manifestation of the sav- 
ing power of God be expected, when so many 
of the servants of the Lord come together on 
such an occasion? God has not said to 
the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye me in vain." 
He is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answer- 
ing God, and should we not always hope 
that when a whole synod is convened for 
prayer and other religious services, rivers 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 135 

of salvation will flow from their faithful efforts 
and believing prayers ? If we would ask more 
and expect more, we would receive more 
from the Lord. He is not impoverished by 
giving, nor enriched by withholding. His ear 
is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor his arm 
shortened that it cannot save. He is the same 
now that He was when in answer to the pray- 
ers of one hundred and twenty disciples, as- 
sembled in an upper room at Jerusalem, three 
thousand were converted in one day and Hve 
thousand a few days subsequent. " When Zion 
travails she shall bring forth." 



136 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



A REMARKABLE ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

In 1829 I was invited by the pastor of a 
church in a village about twenty miles from 
my own parish, to come out and assist him for 
a few days in a special effort for the salvation 
of his people. He thought there were indica- 
tions for good in his congregation, and had 
made up his mind to have preaching every 
evening, together with prayer-meetings and 
family visiting through the day. 

I took one of my elders with me, and went 
to the house of my brother, agreeably to his 
request. He had made an appointment for 
me to preach that evening. The congregation 
was large and solemn, and there were some 
indications of the special presence of the Holy 
Spirit. That evening my elder lead our devo- 
tions in family prayer, and poured out his soul 
in great fervency for the conversion of sinners. 
He earnestly besought the Lord that he would 
so trouble the impenitent that they would feel 
constrained to awaken us in the night to 
inquire what they should do to be saved. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 137 

After prayer we retired to rest, but about 
midnight the pastor came into our room and 
awoke us, to tell us that a number of sinners 
had collected at the academy, who were so 
distressed with a sense of their lost condition, 
that they had sent a request for us to visit 
them. On repairing to the place, the pastor 
and my elder, for I was not well enough to go 
out at that hour, found the principal of the 
academy, with a large number of the scholars, 
and some other persons, assembled to inquire 
what they must do to be saved. The next 
morning there were a number rejoicing in 
hope, and many more deeply bowed down 
under a sense of their sins. We remained 
there a few days, and had the pleasure of see- 
ing many proud hearts apparently humbled at 
the foot of the Cross. 

It was the Lord who taught my brother thus 
to pray, and it was the Lord who answered 
that prayer by giving us the very thing 
prayed for. If Christians lived in habits of 
communion with God, would not his Spirit 
more frequently teach us what to pray for, and 
more frequently give us the very blessings 
which we ask ? 



138 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LITE. 



A WAY TO KEEP THE OVERSIGHT OF A LARGE 
CHURCH. 

Having often heard my brethren in the min- 
istry complain of the difficulty of extending 
a proper pastoral supervision over a large 
church, I thought it might be useful to young 
pastors for me to give them the results of my 
own experience on this subject. 

When believers began to be multiplied in 
my congregation, so that my church consisted 
of several hundred persons scattered over an 
area of six or eight miles square, I found the 
difficulty of extending a personal watch and 
care over them to be so great that I resorted 
to the following expedient. 

We divided the congregation into districts 
of a convenient size. Over each of these dis- 
tricts we appointed an elder, as a superin- 
tendent. This elder was furnished with a 
book, containing the names of all the mem- 
bers of the church who resided within the 
bounds of his particular jurisdiction. He 
was told that this portion of the church and 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 189 

congregation was committed to his special care, 
and that he must keep himself acquainted with 
the spiritual condition of each one thus com- 
mitted to him. He was directed to keep up a 
prayer-meeting among his people, to visit them 
often, and if there were any difficulties arising 
among them which he could not settle, or any 
cases of awakening among the impenitent, he 
was immediately to notify the pastor. I would 
visit these districts as frequently as I could, giv- 
ing notice on the Sabbath of the time when, 
and appointing a lecture at some convenient 
place in the neighborhood. 

After the lecture I would call for the super- 
intendent's book, in which I would find writ- 
ten opposite the name of each individual all 
that I needed to know to enable me to give 
him such private counsel or admonition as his 
case required. 

After conversing personally with each one, 
and praying, and singing, the meeting was 
dismissed, and I then gave such advice to the 
superintendent as I thought the condition of 
his little charge required. 

In this way I was enabled to keep myself 
constantly advised of the spiritual condition 



140 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

and religions walk of a church consisting of 
sometimes eight hundred members. Kept in 
communication with each other, they could 
feel the beating of each other's hearts, and 
maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
peace. 

In all the discipline which we ever had in 
that church, for more than thirty years, we 
never had either an appeal or complaint ; and 
in almost every instance the session retained 
the confidence and the affection of those who 
were the subjects of its highest censures. 



THE LITTLE BOY'S REMEDY WHEN HE GOT IN 
THE DARK. 

In my congregation, during a precious work 
of grace, there was a little boy of eight years 
old, who was among those who indulged a 
hope in Christ. Conversing with him in 
regard to his religious exercises I inquired if 
he never got in the dark, and became afraid 
that he was not a Christian. 



141 

He replied, " O, yes ; very often." 

"Well, George, what do you do at such 
times P 

" Why, sir, I go to Christ and submit over 
again, and then I find comfort." 

The little boy gave such evidence of a 
change of heart, that we received him into 
the church, but his parents soon removed into 
Michigan, and I did not hear from him in six 
years, when a man from the neighborhood 
where he lived gave us the following account : 

The family settled in a new place, where 
there was no preaching, and no stated religious 
service of any kind. When George was four- 
teen years of age, he went through the settle- 
ment, and by the consent of the parents, col- 
lected the children into a Sabbath school, of 
which he was for a while superintendent and 
teacher, yet the school grew and prospered, 
and was the means of establishing the ordi- 
nances of the gospel in that place. 

I have often thought of this child's remedy 
for spiritual darkness. It is the true one. 
When the Christian finds his graces fading, 
and his light going out ; instead of examining 
long to determine whether he was ever truly a 



142 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

child of God, if lie would go directly to the 
Saviour, and do again his first work, he would, 
like that little boy, obtain comfort. The 
blessed Redeemer is the only friend who can 
help us, in such a time of need. His blood 
cleanses from all sin, and it is by continual sub- 
mission to and reliance on him, that the soul 
can have the consolations of his holy religion. 



THE INFLUENCE OF RUMSELLING UPON THE HEART 
AND CONSCIENCE. 

In a country town in the State of New York, 
which I visited twenty years ago, I found an old 
acquaintance, who had for a number of years 
been a member of the Presbyterian church. I 
had been acquainted with him from his early 
youth, and particularly attached both to him 
and his companion, who was also a professor of 
religion. To my grief I found them engaged 
in keeping a rum tavern. I conversed with 
them about their business, and found that the 
consciences of both were burthened. The 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 143 

wife had been opposed to it in her judgment 
as well as conscience, and the husband told me 
that he did not enjoy himself as he had done 
before he began to sell rum. I endeavored to 
show them that the business was inconsistent 
with the religion which they professed, and 
might be a snare both to themselves and their 
children — that the profits which they might 
realize from it would be the wages of unright- 
eousness, which would shut them out from the 
communion of God, and pierce their souls 
with many sorrows. I finally prevailed in 
persuading them to abandon the traffic, and 
with my own hands assisted them in throwing 
a part of their liquor into the street, and mix- 
ing the residue with water to make vinegar. 

They both seemed happy after the expurga- 
tion, and I could not help feeling thankful to 
God for my success, in persuading two friends 
whom I loved, to abandon a course of life 
which was dangerous to their own souls, 
and ruinous both to the souls and bodies of 
others. 

A short time afterwards I visited them 
again, and, to my pain, found that soon after 
my first visit the husband had replenished his 



144 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

bar, and engaged with a new energy in his 
work of death. 

In my subsequent visits to this family, I 
found both the husband and wife beginning to 
find fault with Christians, and to entertain 
doubts about the divinity of the Christian sys- 
tem. They soon became open infidels, and 
have brought up their children to despise reli- 
gion, and glory in their emancipation from the 
restraint which the Bible imposes upon the 
followers of the Saviour. 

I am satisfied that the dreadful fall of these 
two interesting people, will be found, in the 
last day, to have been occasioned by their 
going contrary to the dictates of their own 
enlightened consciences, in the sale of the 
drunkard's drink. They knew that the Bible 
condemned their course, and when they were 
induced to resume a business which they had 
so recently been prevailed on to abandon, they 
determined to get rid of their fears of the dis- 
pleasure of God by rejecting the standard of 
morality which he had given them. The love 
of the wages of unrighteousness hardened 
their hearts, and blunted their minds, until 
they were ready to withdraw the wholesome 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 145 

and needed restraints of religion from the 
minds of their children, and teach them, both 
by their precept and example, to live without 
God in the world. O, what a fearful responsi- 
bility ! What a meeting will that of these 
parents and children be in the day of judg- 
ment ! The father and mother are now 
among the most bitter enemies of Christianity 
and their children are walking in the footsteps 
of their parents. 

Christian reader, if you should ever be 
tempted to deal in the drunkard's drink, think 
of this family. The business is inconsistent 
with the religion of Jesus Christ, and you must 
avoid the one or give up the other. Count 
the cost before you take the fatal step, and if 
you are not ready to deny your God and 
Saviour, and expose your offspring to the 
curse of infidelity, have nothing to do with 
this work of death. 



146 



THE PROMISE FULFILLED. 

In John vii. 38, we have the following pre- 
cious promise — " He that believeth on me, 
as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly 
shall flow rivers of living water." 

In this passage water is the emblem of the 
salvation of Christ, and the promise, when 
divested of its figurative dress, is, that when 
we exercise a living faith in Christ salvation 
will flow from us in broad streams like rivers. 

I have often dwelt with pleasure upon this 
sweet promise, and have seen it fulfilled, in the 
providence and grace of God, but have never 
witnessed a more delightful exemplification of 
its truthfulness than in the case of an old man, 
who lived and died in my congregation. He 
had a very numerous family when he came to 
Christ, and received the waters of life, or, ac« 
cording to the figurative language of the pre- 
ceding verse, came to Christ to drink. Very 
soon, in answer to his prayers, and through the 
blessings of the Lord upon his judicious labors 
his wife and five sons, and iive daughters, were 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOk's LIFE. 147 

brought to indulge a hope in the Eedeemer. 
The oldest son had three boys, who lived to be 
men and were all Christians ; one of them is now 
a devoted minister of the gospel, who is turning 
many to righteousness. The second son died 
soon after his conversion, and as he lived at a 
distance from me I am unable to trace his his- 
tory. The third son, though a feeble young 
man, was an active Christian, and though he 
was laid in an early grave, I know of many 
individuals who owned him as their spiritual 
father. The fourth son had two children, who 
were both members of the church. Though I 
am unable to trace the particular history of 
the other children, from what I know of the 
family, it would be safe to say that each of the 
ten streams, issuing from the pious efforts of 
this old man, doubled in the next generation, 
while some of them, in the life-time of their 
parents, became a broad river. Now, if we 
were capable of following these streams, as 
they flow on from generation to generation, 
we should find them widening and deepening, 
until they should not only become broad rivers 
but inland seas, losing themselves in the 
ocean of redeemed souls, who will fill the area 



148 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

of glory at the right hand of the Saviour at 
the judgment of the great day. 

I have only in this estimate noticed the suc- 
cess of this old man in his own family, but it 
did not stop here. He lived to a good old 
age, and while he lived was a. burning and 
shining light to all around him, and was, 
through every year of his Christian life, a 
means of turning some souls to Christ. 

Reader, the man whose history I have so far 
traced, was a plain man, of no more than or- 
dinary talents and common education. There 
is no reason why you should not emulate his 
example, and hope for his success. Jesus 
Christ has given you the same promise which 
he gave to him, and he will accompany your 
efforts, if you will make them in faith and 
love, with the same spirit which made him 
mighty through God to the pulling down of 
strongholds. Dwell on the gracious promise 
of your Redeemer, until you shall feel your 
heart beaming with love to him, and to the 
souls of men, and then, with a reliance on his 
grace to help you in every time of need, labor 
for the salvation of sinners, always remember- 
ing that every one that you may lead to the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 149 

foot of the Cross, will be the commencement 
of a stream of saving influences, which will 
flow on, bearing souls upon its current down 
to the close of time. 



BRIEF ACCOUNT OF A WORK OF GRACE IN THE 
BRICK CHURCH IN ROCHESTER. 

The writer commenced his labors with the 
Brick church at Rochester in the spring of 
1831, at the close of a powerful revival of re- 
ligion, under the preaching of Rev. C. G. Fin- 
ney, which pervaded, in a greater or less de- 
gree, all the religious congregations in that 
place. 

From the time of my installation, in May, 
1831, until the first Sabbath in January, 1833, 
there was in this congregation a manifest, 
though not a powerful work of grace, and con- 
stant though small additions were made to the 
church, of such as we had reason to hope would 
be saved. Between these two periods about 
two hundred and fifty souls were added to our 



150 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

communion, the most of them by profession of 
their faith. 

In January, 1833, the work assumed a deep- 
er and more encouraging aspect. The people 
of God began to take a stronger hold upon 
the promises, and to agonize more in prayer 
for the conversion of the thousands who were 
perishing around them. 

A protracted meeting in the free church, 
and a union in the third, were productive of 
great good, and I have no doubt many souls 
were converted to Christ. These efforts were 
followed in February by a protracted meeting 
in the Baptist church, which was conducted 
with a catholic spirit, and appeared to be 
blessed to the salvation of a goodly number. 

The first week in March was spent by the 
Brick church, and by a few brethren from 
other churches, as an entire week of prayer 
for the salvation of Rochester. The Monday 
following was kept as a day of fasting and 
humiliation before God. Tuesday and Wed- 
nesday were spent in prayer and preaching, by 
the members of Rochester Presbytery, and we 
had reason to hope that a few sinners were 
converted to Christ. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LITE. 151 

On Thursday, the 14th of March, we com- 
menced having a prayer-meeting, and a meet- 
ing of enquiry in the forenoon, and preaching 
in the afternoon and evening, and the Spirit 
of God seemed to accompany the efforts. In 
the course of a few days, an aspect of serious- 
ness had spread over the whole place, and many 
were inquiring what they must do to he saved. 
Our meetings of inquiry were attended by 
great numbers, and our house was so crowded 
in the afternoon and evening, that, during the 
sermon, the whole church had to go into the 
basement rooms, and spend the time in prayer, 
to make room for the impenitent who wished 
to listen to the preaching. 

By the first of April the work became less 
powerful, and though there were still a num- 
ber of conversions every day, yet the revival 
was evidently on the decline. The prepara- 
tion for the opening of navigation seemed to 
divert the minds of men from the one thing 
needful, and the cares of the world, and the 
deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other 
things, checked the word, so that it became 
comparatively unfruitful. 

Between the first Sabbath in March and the 



152 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

first Sabbath in May, there were about six 
hundred souls who attended our meeting, ex- 
clusive of children, indulging a hope that they 
had been born again. Of this number, one 
hundred and eighty were added to our church, 
while many went to the churches, where they 
had statedly worshipped previous to their con- 
version. 

The converts were of all classes, and were 
not all residents of the city; many from the 
surrounding country came in, to see what the 
Lord was doing for Rochester, and gladly re- 
ceived the word, and returned home to serve 
and glorify God. Numbers, too, who were 
journeying through the place, heard the word 
and believed, and like the eunuch of old, went 
on their way rejoicing. 

The instruction was substantially the same 
as had been given to that congregation for the 
two years preceding. Christians were taught 
that the salvation of sinners must come out of 
Zion — that revivals of religion did not depend 
upon the eloquence of the preacher, nor upon 
any system of measures, but upon the truths 
of God, faithfully proclaimed and sent home 
to the heart by the Holy Ghost. The encour- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LITE. 153 

aging promise, that " When Zion travails she 
shall bring forth children," was kept promi- 
nently before the people of God, while the 
necessity of the church arising from its low at- 
tainments, and occupying the ground trodden 
by the Enochs and Elijahs of the old dispensa- 
tion, and the apostles and primitive martyrs of 
the new, was urged as indispensable to the 
bringi ng in of the latter day glory. 

Sinners were taught that they were rebels 
against God, under his wrath and curse — that 
they were condemned already, and liable any 
moment to be sent down to hell ; but that the 
Almighty had provided a Saviour for their 
lost souls, and was, through the gospel minis- 
try, reconciling the world to himself, not im- 
puting their trespasses unto them. They were 
told that the conditions of reconciliation were 
submission to God, repentance for sin, and 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That though 
these were all graces of the Spirit, yet they 
were exercises of the creatures, which he was 
free to put forth, and that he had not only the 
ability, but was under infinite obligation to 
comply with them immediately. 

These were the prominent topics of discus- 



154 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

sion through this work of grace — Christ cruci- 
fied for our offences, and raised again for our 
justification, was endeavored to be kept con- 
stantly before the rnind. 

The young converts were, as far as possible, 
assembled two or three times a week, and 
sometimes every day, in a room by themselves, 
to be examined by their pastor in regard to 
the ground of their hope, and to be instructed 
in the way of salvation. 

The Sabbath-school of our church assumed 
a most interesting appearance. The faithful 
superintendent and his indefatigable teachers 
had long been sowing the precious seed of the 
word in the infantile mind, with tears, and 
they were now returning with joy, bringing 
their sheaves with them. This school was, as 
a Sabbath-school should always be, a place 
where the thoughtless were led to consider 
their lost and perishing condition, the young 
inquirer pointed to a bleeding Saviour, and 
the converted little one taught the duty of 
presenting his body a living sacrifice unto the 
Lord. The superintendent felt his responsi- 
bility to God for the souls committed to his 
care, while each teacher was taught to carry 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 155 

the souls of his class on his heart, and to 
labor and pray for them, as one who nmst give 
an account. Out of one hundred and ninety- 
five children belonging to this school, more 
than one hundred were indulging a hope in 
Christ, and many more were deeply impressed 
with a sense of their lost condition. 

In closing this brief account, which I have 
given of this work of grace, I will take the 
liberty to inquire of the Christian reader, 
whether something more than what is doing, 
may not, and must not, be done by the minis- 
try of reconciliation, and by our churches, to 
bring a deeper work of grace into the hearts 
of Christians, and to cause the gospel to have 
free course, that it may be glorified in the sal- 
vation of millions, instead of hundreds and 
thousands of our fellow race ? At the rate 
that salvation is now flowing " out of Zion," it 
requires but a moment's calculation to perceive 
that the millenium can never be ushered in. 
With all our revivals, and with all that is 
doing in our own favored land, the moral deso- 
lations are thickening around us. The increase 
of population is so far outstripping the work 
of regeneration by the Spirit that the moral 



156 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

darkness is becoming more and more dense 
every day. Even where the gospel is enjoyed 
statedly, it is, from some cause, attended with 
so little success, that in the aggregate there 
are far more born after the flesh than are re- 
newed by the Spirit ; thus sending out a con- 
tinuous stream of the impenitent enemies of 
God, to co-operate with the formalists and the 
infidels, who are pouring in upon us from the 
old world, in weaving the winding sheet of our 
republican and Christian institutions. 

Look at these things, my brethren, and then 
say, if there is any reasonable hope that the 
world will ever be converted, without a radi- 
cal reformation in the house of God. I do not 
speak of a reformation in the forms of reli- 
gion, or in the organization of the churches, 
nor yet in the doctrines enshrined in our 
creed, but in the hearts and lives of the sacra- 
mental host. Christians must have more of 
that faith which is " the substance of things 
hoped for, and the evidence of things not 
seen." They must have a more intense desire, 
and agonize more in prayer, for the salvation 
of dying men. Instead of disputing about 
those little peculiarities in our speculative the- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 15? 

ology, or in the forms of our administrations, 
which do not enter into the spiritual elements 
of the Christian character; they must come 
together in the unity of faith and of an expe- 
rimental knowledge of the Son of God, and 
must sit together in heavenly places, and speak 
to each other of the things which they have 
seen and heard, and which their hands have 
handled of the good word of life. Being 
united to Jesus Christ by a living faith, they 
must, in the language of our Scriptural confes- 
sion, have fellowship with him in his graces, 
suffering, death, resurrection and glory; and 
being united to one another in love, they have 
communion in each other's graces and gifts, 
and in this way have communicated to them in 
this life, the first fruits of glory with Christ, 
as members of him, their head; and in him 
become interested in that glory, of which He is 
fully possessed ; and so enjoy a sense of God's 
love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy 
Ghost, and hope of eternal glory. 

This, my brethren, is not only the impera- 
tive duty, but the glorious privilege of the 
people of God, and until the Church sjiall arise 
and take possession of this, their spiritual inheri- 



158 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

tance, there can be no great encroachments 
made upon the kingdom of Satan. Before the 
world can be converted, we rrmst have a holy 
and heavenly-minded church, as the standard 
to which the world must be brought. But if 
we have a holy church she must have a 
heavenly-minded ministry — we who minister 
at the altar must be conformed to the inimita- 
ble perfections of our blessed Saviour, that we 
may call upon our people, as Paul did, to fol- 
low us as we follow Christ. 

O, how crushing are the responsibilities of 
the Christian ministry ! How fearful the re- 
sults of their labors ! The glory of God, the 
heavenly-mindedness of the Church, the salva- 
tion of lost souls, the joy of angels, and the 
wailings of the damned, stand intimately con- 
nected with their success, and that success de- 
pends, under Grod, more upon their personal 
holiness than upon any other one thing. 

Let us then, my brethren, who minister in 
the sacred office, keep Jesus so fully in our 
hearts, that when we mingle with our people, 
that while they behold they may be changed 
into the same image from glory to glory. Let 
the high and holy attainments of prophets 



INCIDENTS m A PASTOR'S LIFE. 159 

and apostles, stimulate and encourage our 
faith, and while the higher and purer character 
of the Captain of our salvation is our model, 
let us depend on his grace to help us throw 
ourselves upon our work of faith and labor of 
love. 



HE THAT WATERETH SHALL BE WATERED. 

The writer of these reminiscences was called 
to take the pastoral charge of a congregation 
that was fourteen thousand dollars in debt, 
with their church edifice very much out of re- 
pair, and with some very unpleasant divisions 
and heartburnings among the members of the 
church. 

At the first monthly concert after he com- 
menced his labors in this new field, though 
there was a pretty good attendance, to his 
grief and disappointment, only seventeen dol- 
lars were contributed for the furtherance of 
the noble cause which had brought them 



160 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

together. He took an early opportunity the 
next morning to get two or three of the lead- 
ing members of his church together, to whom 
he stated his feelings, in view of the smallness 
of the collection on the preceding evening. 
He felt that though a rich congregation might 
afford to be penurious, a poor one could not, 
and that the only hope for the one of which 
he had just taken the charge was in the pro- 
mise, " He that watereth shall be watered 
also himself." — Pro v. xi. 25. 

The brethren with whom he conversed sym- 
pathized with him in these views, and set 
themselves to work, and before night added 
sixty-four dollars to the contribution of the 
preceding evening. From that time to the 
dissolution of the pastoral relation between us, 
which was four years, the collections at the 
monthly concert averaged over fifty dollars, 
and the whole amount contributed for the dif- 
ferent benevolent enterprises of the day 
averaged four thousand dollars a year, over 
and above what was done for liquidating their 
debt, repairing and furnishing their house, and 
supporting the gospel at home. 

In the meantime the Spirit of God was gra- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 161 

ciously shed down upon the congregation : the 
misguided individuals, who had made the 
trouble, were reclaimed, and brought to repent- 
ance, and the church was built up in its most 
holy faith. At the end of the fourth year the 
pastor, in the hope of restoring his declining 
health, was released from his charge, but the 
church went on from strength to strength, and 
so enlarged in its benefactions, that in eleven 
years from the concert alluded to, it had con- 
tributed to the great benevolent societies of 
the land more than fifty-five thousand dollars, 
and had been so prospered of God, that it was 
entirely free from debt, had its place of wor- 
ship in repair, and from one to two hundred 
dollars were unappropriated in the treasury. It 
is at this day one of the most prosperous, 
active and efficient congregations in Western 
New York, and furnishes an instance of the 
fulfillment of that sweet promise which I have 
placed at the head of this article, well calcu- 
lated to encourage the people of God to make 
liberal efforts for the salvation of a dying world. 
Here let me inquire, whether the poverty of 
many of our churches, and their difficulty in 
supporting the institutions oi religion at home, 



162 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

may not be owing to the parsimonious manner 
in which they contribute to send the word of 
life to those who are perishing for lack of 
vision ? They sow sparingly, and according to 
the divine arrangement, they reap sparingly. 
They withhold more than is meet from the 
treasury of the Lord, and " it tendeth to 
poverty." 

Israel of old tried the experiment of getting 
rich by robbing God of his tythes and offer- 
ings ; but He sent blasting and mildew into 
their fields, caused their vines prematurely to 
cast their fruit, while the palmer worm de- 
voured the product of their olive yards and iig 
trees. The prophet Malachi was sent to this 
people to tell them that the Almighty had 
cursed them with this curse, for robbing him. 
And that if they would prove him, and bring 
all the tythes into the storehouse, He would 
open the windows of heaven, and pour them 
out a blessing that there should not be room 
to receive it. That He would rebuke the de- 
vourer, for their sakes, so that it should not 
destroy the fruits of the ground, and that the 
vine should no more cast her fruit before the 
time. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 163 

The church of which I have been speaking, 
proved the Lord in the way in which He told 
Israel to prove him, and they have never 
since had occasion to complain of poverty. 

Will not all onr churches, and all individual 
Christians, inquire whether they are not 
chargeable with the sin of robbing God, by 
withholding, in whole or in part, their tythes 
and offerings. 



THE YOUNG GIRL'S ASSURANCE OF THE ANSWER 
TO HER PRAYERS. 

During the residence of the writer in the 
western part of Pennsylvania, he became ac- 
quainted with a family of devoted piety, who 
had a daughter that from her childhood was 
remarkable for her heavenly-mindedness. She 
seemed in an eminent degree to walk with 
God, and had the evidence in her own soul that 
she pleased him. When she was about twelve 
or thirteen years old, she was attacked with 
rheumatism, which continued to grow worse 



164 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK'S LIFE. 

and worse, until slie was not only unable to 
walk, but had her lower limbs so contracted 
that her knees were brought up almost to her 
stomach. She was confined for a long time to 
her bed, but found a rich consolation in reli- 
gion, and suffered meekly and quietly, upon 
the consideration that it was her heavenly 
Father who, in goodness, had afflicted her. 
When she was about fifteen or sixteen years 
of age, on one Sabbath morning, she said to 
her mother, she wished her uncle, who was the 
pastor of that church, would appoint a prayer- 
meeting at their house. The meeting was ac- 
cordingly appointed. Towards evening the 
daughter called her mother to her bed, and 
told her that the Lord had heard her prayers, 
and that evening was going to remove her dis- 
ease, and restore her to health again. Though 
there were no indications of any improvement 
in the contracted state of her limbs, she re- 
quested to have her clothes put on her, so that 
she might get up and attend the prayer-meet- 
ing. Her mother, according to her request, 
dressed her, even to her shoes and stockings, 
wondering at the strange impressions of her 
beloved child. 



INCIDE3STTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 165 

Evening came, and the people assembled, 
and the pastor, at the appointed hour, opened 
the meeting with an appropriate prayer, when, 
to the astonishment of all, the contracted mus- 
cles of the daughter's limbs relaxed, and she 
arose from her bed and sat up through the 
rest of the meeting, and was never after trou- 
bled with that complaint. 

As near as I can now remember, about two 
years after this miraculous interposition of 
God, I was at the house of the father of this 
young girl, and by the consent of her parents, 
she accompanied me home, to make us a visit 
of a week or two ; but she had only been with 
us two or three days, when she told us she 
must go home. On our urging her to stay and 
make out her visit, she replied that she must 
go. Finding her determined on the subject, I 
engaged her passage in the stage, which went 
by her father's house, and put her on board. 

When she arrived at home, she told her 
mother that they must soon part, that it was 
the will of her heavenly Father that she 
should leave her earthly friends, and go to 
dwell with her precious Saviour. Though she 
was then in perfect health, she set immediately 



166 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

about dividing her clothes, and other things 
which she possessed, and gave her mother 
directions how she would have them disposed 
of. 

As soon as she had made these little ar- 
rangements she was taken sick, and in a few 
days fell asleep in Christ. 

This was one of those rare cases in which 
the Lord, in some way, to us unknown, reveals 
to his children what He is about to do. 

She was first informed of his gracious^ pur- 
pose to restore her to health, in answer to her 
prayers, and when she had done what He had 
for her to do, He kindly admonished her of his 
intention to call her home. 

With the philosophy of this case I have 
nothing to do, but the facts themselves I love 
to contemplate. They belong to a class of the 
providential dealings of God with his children, 
which are calculated to warm our hearts, and 
quicken our faith, and encourage us to live 
near to God, and be more in habits of commu- 
nion with him. " The secrets of the Lord are 
with the righteous." — Prov. iii. 32. And we 
have much reason to believe, that if his people 
would come nearer to him, such cases as this 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTORS LIFE. 167 

would be much more common than they now 
are. 

A similar instance of the assurance of the 
answer of prayer, occurred when the Albion 
was wrecked off the coast of Ireland. The 
writer was in New York when the news arriv- 
ed that the ill-fated packet was lost, and that 
every passenger on board had perished. A 
minister of the gospel residing near Philadel- 
phia, received a paper which contained a list 
of the lost, and finding among them the name 
of one of the members of his congregation, 
went immediately to the wife to inform her of 
the death of her husband. But to his perfect 
astonishment, after mforming her of the ship- 
wreck, and showing her the names of those 
who had perished, she told him there was 
some mistake ; her husband had been in great 
peril, but was not dead. The next account 
that was received from the wreck, confirmed 
the impression of the wife, that though her 
husband was on board, and was in great peril, 
he alone of all the passengers was saved. 

The writer received these facts from the 
late Eev. Dr. Wilson, who had all the particu- 
lars from the pastor who bore the intelligence 



168 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

of the wreck of the Albion to the wife whose 
husband was saved from imminent danger in 
answer to her believing prayers. 



ALMOST PERSUADED TO BE A CHRISTIAN. 

In the course of my family visiting among 
the people of my charge I called on a young 
married woman who had just been brought 
home by a young man belonging to my con- 
gregation. 

I immediately entered into conversation 
with her about the state of her own soul, and 
soon found that though she was a speculative 
believer in divine revelation, and had always 
been regular in her attendance upon the 
means of grace, yet the cares of this world, 
and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts 
of other things, had choked the word, and 
made it unfruitful. 

I urged her, as she was just now entering 
upon the duties and responsibilities of a wife, 
to prepare for her station by putting herself 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 169 

under the care, and seeking the guidance and 
direction of the Loed Jesus Cheist. 

She acknowledged the importance of such a 
step, but thought she should be better pre- 
pared to take it after she became settled in 
her new habitation. 

I told her that though she was then young, 
and her prospects for a long and happy life 
might appear fair ; yet her time was in the 
hands of that God whom she had from her child- 
hood refused to serve, and that He might 
unexpectedly require her soul which he had 
made. 

She seemed to feel the truth of what I said, 
and wept bitterly. She saw her duty and her 
danger, and sometimes, for a moment, would 
seem near to the kingdom of God ; but pre- 
sently the world, with its flattering promises, 
would rush into her mind, and then she felt 
that she could not give all up for Christ. 

I pointed her to the dying love of her Sa- 
viour, to the guilt of again neglecting him, 
and to the danger of her own soul while living 
without hope in the world; but while her 
tears flowed profusely, her heart led her to 
8 



1Y0 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIEE. 

say, " Go tliy way for this time, and when I 
have a convenient season I will call for thee." 

I left her and returned home, and saw her 
no more until I was called out of my bed one 
morning at the break of day, to go and see 

Mrs. , who, the messenger said, was very 

sick. On entering her apartment I found her 
dying. I approached her bed and inquired 
whether she felt prepared to meet her Saviour ; 
but with a look of unutterable anguish, and 
with a voice that went to my heart, she ex- 
claimed, " O, no ! O, no !" and with a terrible 
struggle, groaned out her last breath. 

The bridal robe and the winding-sheet often 
come in quick succession ; and she only is wise, 
who adorns herself in the white raiment pre- 
pared by Christ, before she gives her heart to 
another. The present moment is God's ac- 
cepted time, and those who refuse the offer of 
life when it is made to them, are in danger of 
mourning at the last, with " no God to hear 
their bitter prayer, nor Saviour to call them to 
the skies." 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 171 



SINNERS LIVE TO NO GOOD PURPOSE. 

An intelligent and interesting physician of 
strictly moral habits, called upon me one 
morning in my study, and told me he had 
come to have a little conversation on the sub- 
ject of religion. I told him I was always 
pleased to see him, but was peculiarly so when 
I knew that he wished to converse upon the 
things which belonged to his peace. On 
making some inquiry respecting his feelings, I 
learned that he had been sick ; had considered 
himself, and was considered by his attendant 
physician, for some days, to be in a critical 
state, but, by the blessing of God upon the 
means used, he was soon able to be about 
again. During his sickness he had no particular 
anxiety about himself ; but when he was able 
to return to his office, while entirely alone, the 
inquiry came up to his mind, "What good 
purpose will be answered by your restoration 
to health?" This question, which seemed to 
come without inviting, brought his whole past 
life up before him, which, though it had been 



172 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

orderly, and what the world calls moral, he 
saw had been a life without God, and that his 
fellow men had been none the better for his 
having lived among them. He felt that there 
was no portion of his past life which would 
afford him pleasure in the hour of death, and 
that if what remained of it was to be spent as 
the past had been, he might as well have died 
with his last sickness as to have been restored 
to health again. This train of thought, which 
was evidently caused by the operation of the 
Holy Spirit, convicted him of sin. He saw 
clearly that if his life had been a useless one, 
it had been a sinful one ; that in the language 
of our excellent catechism, " The chief end of 
man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever," 
and as he had not made that the chief end of 
his life, he had not fulfilled the end of his 
being, and was an unfaithful cumberer of the 
ground in his Master's vineyard. His heart 
now became burdened with a sense of his 
guilt, and in the loneliness of his study he 
resolved to take the yoke of his Eedeemer 
upon his neck, and learn of him who was meek 
and lowly in mind. He then knelt before 
God, and consecrated himself with all that he 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. If3 

had to the service of that Saviour who came 
into the world to redeem sinners. 

I questioned him with regard to his view of 
the sinfulness of his heart, the character of 
Christ, the ground of his hope, and the feelings 
which he had indulged since the change of his 
purpose, until I became satisfied that there 
was ground to hope that "old things had 
passed away, and all things had become new." 
After some weeks he united himself to the 
church, and his subsequent life has fully justi- 
fied the hope which I indulged for hjm at the 
interview to which I have alluded. 

It is the province of the Holy Spirit to 
bring to our remembrance our past life ; and 
oftentimes, when we are alone with God, He 
leads us to a course of self-inspection, which re- 
sults in the deepest sense of our guilt and ruin. 
But in this case I think it was a mother's 
prayer that availed with God for this young 
man. He was blessed with a godly mother 
who, though she was far from the son of her 
love, was not far from the throne of grace ; 
and never forgot to plead the promises of a 
covenant-keeping God for her baptized child. 
Oh ! what an inestimable blessing is a godly 



174 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

mother ! One who can take hold of the 
throne of God with one hand, and of her 
beloved child with the other. Snch a mother 
often, by her prayers, " moves the arm that 
moves the world." 



A UNIVERSALIST AWAKENED BY A KING FISHER. 

When the writer first came to this western 
part of the State of New York, there was 
living in a beautiful village on the bank of the 
Chemung river, a respectable physician, who 
was an Universalist. He prided himself in his 
universal sentiments, and took the license which 
his creed afforded him of gratifying the lusts 
and appetites of his flesh. It was not uncom- 
mon at that early period, in Western New 
York, for respectable men sometimes to indulge 
themselves, when in good company, in a free 
use of the intoxicating cup. Just after one of 
these excesses, the Doctor, in returning home, 
fell off the river bank, and injured himself so 
severely, that he was confined to his bed for 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LITE. 175 

several weeks. His house was situated near 
the river, and the room in which he was con- 
fined looked out upon that beautiful stream. 
The Kino Fishee, a little bird which lives on 
small fish, and makes his nest in deep holes in 
the river bank, was numerous in that place. 
The Doctor, still on his bed, had his attention 
aroused by an uncommon screaming among 
those birds. On raising himself on his elbow, 
and looking out of the window, he saw that 
the river had been swollen by a recent rain to 
such a degree, that it was running into the 
holes which had been made in the banks, and 
drowning out the little birds. This view of 
their discomfiture and peril brought to his 
mind the words of the prophet : " The ' hail 
shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the 
waters shall overflow their hiding places." 
This text the Spirit of God applied to his own 
case, and he saw clearly that in resorting to 
Universalism, he had been making lies his 
refuge, and hiding himself under falsehood; 
and that when God should bring judgment to 
the line, and righteousness to the plumet, the 
hail would sweep away the refuge of lies, and 
the waters would overflow his hiding place. 



176 nsrcrDESTTS in a pastor's life. 

The word of God which lie had so long ne- 
glected, was now made " quick and powerful, 
and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing 
even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and a 
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 
heart." He saw clearly that he had rejected 
the truth because his deeds were evil ; and 
had adopted his lax creed to screen himself 
from the reproaches of a guilty conscience. 
His pillow was now planted with thorns, and 
his bed became a bed of anguish. The cry- 
ing of the houseless birds rang in his ears 
like the knell of his lost soul, and he could 
find no rest until he had fled for refuge to 
that sure foundation which God has laid in 
Zion. 

"When he was able to walk abroad, he called 
on the writer and gave him the interesting 
account recorded above. He described the 
manner in which the threatening from Isaiah 
was brought home to his heart, and gave a 
detailed account of the operations of his mind 
from that moment, until he found rest for his 
soul. 

He subsequently became a member of the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 1^7 

Presbyterian church, and spent the residue of 
his life in her communion. 

From a very extensive and long acquaintance 
with Universalists, from conversation with 
them when the Spirit of God has been striv- 
ing with their consciences, and from visiting 
them on their death-bed, I am fully satisfied 
that as the fool hath said in his Jieart there is 
no God ; so it is the heart, and not the under- 
standing, which leads men to believe or profess 
the universal doctrines. It seems to me impro- 
bable, that any unprejudiced mind can believe 
that when the Saviour said, "These shall go 
go away into everlasting punishment, but the 
righteous into life eternal," he meant that both 
classes should go to the same place ; or that 
when he said that " the day was coming when 
all who were in their graves should come forth, 
they who had done good unto the resurrection 
of life, and they who had done evil unto the 
resurrection of damnation," he meant to be 
understood, that they should all be alike happy. 
It is a deluded heart which leads them astray. 
Because they receive not the love of the 
truth that they might be saved. * * * 
God sends them strong delusions that they 
8* 



IT 8 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

should believe a lie ; that they all might be 
damned who believe not in the truth, but have 
pleasure in unrighteousness. 



FATAL ADVICE. 

In the winter of 1826, a gay and thought- 
less girl from the city of New York came to 
reside in our village ; and, as her parents were 
members of my congregation, she came under 
my pastoral charge. 

Soon after the arrival of the stranger, there 
was more than ordinary attention among my 
people, and she seemed to partake of the gene- 
ral seriousness that pervaded the circle in 
which she moved. 

On visiting her at the house of her parents, 
I found her deeply impressed with a sense of 
her danger, but not so clearly perceiving the 
aggravated nature of her sins, as I could have 
wished. She was an only daughter, and a 
petted child ; and her mother had the mis- 
taken impression, that her favorite was almost 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 179 

what she should be, and the child had very 
naturally fallen in with the opinion of her 
parent. 

She soon became an attendant upon my 
meetings for conversation, and often made the 
anxious inquiry, " What must I do to be 
saved V 

In all my instruction I endeavored to deepen 
her sense of guilt, and to show her that there 
was no help for such a sinner, but in Christ ; 
and that the only way to avail herself of his 
aid, was by repentance and faith. Under this 
instruction she became more rationally and 
feelingly convinced of her lost and perishing 
condition ; and I began to hope that she was 
not far from the kingdom of God. But while 
she was in this state of mind, she was visited 
by a very good young man, who, finding her 
much distressed, and exceedingly anxious to 
know what to do to obtain comfort, told her, 
" she must pray to God to forgive her sins, 
and He who heard the young ravens when 
they cried would hear her." 

The young brother called soon after to see 
me, and frankly told me that he had been to 
see C , and had advised her to pray. 



180 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

" What," said I, " did you tell her to pray- 
before she gave up her opposition to God ?" 

" Yes, I told her to pray, that God- would 
forgive her sins, and have mercy upon her." 

" And where, my dear "brother, do you find 
any warrant in the Scriptures for such advice 
to an awakened sinner ?" 

" Does not the apostle say that he l will that 
men pray everywhere * ?" 

" Yes, but he adds in the same verse, lifting 
up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 
The prayer which the Apostle recommends is 
that which flows from a benevolent heart, and 
is offered up in faith." 

" Well, did not Peter advise Simon to pray, 
that the thoughts of his wicked heart might 
be forgiven him f 

" Yes he did, but he told him to repent first 
of his great sin. This is my objection to your 
advice, you did not tell her to repent first, or 
believe first, but to pray while her heart was 
rankling with enmity against God. She has 
been wanting to do something beside repent 
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I 
am afraid you have supplied this want to the 
injury of her soul !" 



incidents m a pastoe's lefe. 181 

" But do you never tell an impenitent sinner 
to pray V 

" Yes, very often, and show them their guilt 
for neglecting prayer, but I at the same time 
endeavor to show them, that to approach God 
in any other way than through faith in Christ, 
will only add insult to guilt. Jesus said when 
he was on earth, " No man cometh to the 
Father but through me," and for us to encour- 
age sinners to offer up prayer in any other 
name, or without faith in Him is only leading 
them out of the way of life." 

The young brother seemed to perceive his 
error, but was a little relieved in his feelings, 
when he learned that the young woman had 
found relief in the prayer which she had 
offered and was full of joy. 

My own fears were not allayed by this 
change. I rather expected it, and trembled 
for the issue. I thought I knew something of 
her temperament, and of her bad instruction, 
and was afraid she would rest on her prayers 
instead of Christ. 

She appeared joyful and happy a few weeks, 
and I began almost to hope, that my fears 
were groundless ; but as soon as the excitement 



182 estcidents m a pastoe's life. 

occasioned by the novelty of her position had 
passed away, her interest in religious things 
began to decline, and she soon returned like 
" the sow that was washed to her wallowing in 
the mire." 

Though we made frequent efforts to bring 
her back to a sense of her lost condition, they 
were without effect, and she lived and died, 
without giving any satisfactory evidence of 
repentance toward God, or faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

It may seem strange to some, that I should 
consider such advice dangerous to the soul of 
an impenitent sinner ; but all my experience 
with awakened persons, has gone to establish 
me in the opinion, that to set them at doing 
any thing before they come to Christ, is dan- 
gerous. The more they can be shut up to 
to repentance and faith, the better. Setting 
them to work does not usually do the mischief 
that it did in this instance ; but it is because 
the Holy Spirit convinces them that our advice 
falls short of their necessities; and brings 
them to do at last, what we should have told 
them to do at first ; repent and believe. The 
awakened sinner will cry unto God; no one 



rrccnxENTS m a pastok's life. 183 

can prevent him ; but when we set him at it, 
as a means of grace, we add our influence to 
the self-righteousness of his own heart, and 
increase the danger of his resting in his im- 
penitent doings, instead of throwing himself 
at the foot of the Cross. I never tell a sinner 
not to pray ; but I always endeavor to show 
him that God out of Christ is a consuming 
fire. 



THE WOMAN WHO HAD NO FEELING. 

At a time when the Lord was pouring out 
his Spirit upon my congregation, I observed 
one morning, in my meeting of inquiry, a 
young lady, who was not in the habit of 
attending my church. I sat down by her, and 
told her I was happy to meet her in that 
place, and hoped she had come to inquire the 
way to her Saviour. 

She replied, " I have no particular anxiety 
about myself. I came here this morning to 



184 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

gratify a friend, who was very anxious that I 
should accompany her to your meeting." 

" But how is it, my dear girl, that you have 
no anxiety about yourself; do you not know 
that you are a lost sinner V 

" O yes, I know I am a sinner, and I know, 
too, that if I do not become a Christian I 
must perish ; but some how, I cannot feel any 
particular anxiety about my situation." 

A Do you not know that Jesus Christ is just 
such a Saviour as you stand in need of; and 
that he has been waiting long, and is waiting 
this morning, to save your guilty soul from 
condemnation and eternal ruin ?" 

" Yes, I know it, but what can I do without 
feeling V 

" You can act like a rational and accounta- 
ble being, with whom God has a controversy, 
and to whom He is making overtures of mercy. 
You can contemplate your lost condition, and 
look at the terms upon which Jesus Christ 
will interpose in your behalf." 

"But I have always understood that we 
must be awakened and convicted, before we 
can be converted, or become Christians." 

" But are you not accountable this morning, 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 185 

for the manner in which yon treat your pre- 
cious Saviour ?" 

" Yes, I suppose I am." 
" Is He not this morning waiting to be gra- 
cious to you ; and does he not tell you that 
now is the accepted time ?" 

" Yes, but is it not true, that I must have 
more feeling than I now have, before I can 
become a Christian V 

" The Bible does not tell us how much we 
must feel in order to become Christians, but it 
does tell us, ' To-day, if we will hear Christ's 
voice not to harden our hearts, by refusing his 
overtures of mercy.' " 

" My heart is so hard already, that religion 
makes but little impression upon my mind." 

" Well, my child, you admit, that your want 
of feeling does not release you from responsi- 
bility to your righteous Sovereign, and it can- 
not absolve me from the duty of laying the 
Gospel message before you. I must, therefore, 
as an ambassador of Christ, beseech you in his 
name, to be reconciled to God. "Will you give 
up your controversy with your Maker, and 
become reconciled to him this morning ?" 



186 incidents m a pastor's life. 

Here she became more serious, and inquired 
with evident emotion, " What shall I do ?" 

"You know what you ought to do, and I 
will tell you what you must do. You must 
either accept Christ, as he is offered to you in 
the gospel, and go home a child of God ; or 
reject him again, and go away in a state of 
condemnation, with his wrath abiding on 
you." 

She now appeared to feel the full weight of 
her responsibility, and with tears exclaimed, 
"What shall I do!" 

I told her that her duty was plain, and the 
question, whether she would go away a justified 
child, or a condemned sinner, must be decided 
by herself, and would be decided before she 
left the house. 

I left her to make up her mind, and con- 
versed with some other anxious persons ; but 
before I dismissed the meeting, I returned to 
ask her, what answer I should give to him who 
sent me, when, to my great joy, I found her 
full of that peace which the world cannot give 
nor take away. 

At a proper time she united with the church, 
and it was my mournful privilege, seven years 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 187 

after the morning of which I have been speak- 
ing, to sit by her death-bed, and see her ready 
to depart and be with Christ. 

Sinners are not only often kept away from 
Cueist by the opinion that they have nothing 
to do nntil they shall undergo a process of 
awakening and conviction ; but Christians 
sometimes feel that little can be done for them 
until their minds are awakened to a sense of 
their guilt and danger. But from my own ex- 
perience, I would advise my brethren always 
to treat the impenitent as free, accountable 
creatures, whose eternal well-being may depend 
upon the decision of the present moment. If 
we can get them to look at their condition, 
without regard to their feelings, they will be 
more likely to become convinced of sin, and 
come to Christ, than if we allow their real or 
supposed stupidity to keep us from urging the 
gospel message upon them. 

It is true the sinner must be convinced of 
his lost condition, before he will feel his want 
of a Saviour ; but nothing will be more likely 
to convince him of this, than to have us treat 
him as one involved in a personal controversy 
with his Maker, which, if not terminated now, 



188 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

will certainly become more aggravated, and 
may be put, by the providence of God, beyond 
the reach of reconciliation. 

I have often sat down by an impenitent 
sinner, who professed to have no particular 
anxiety about himself, and yet, when pressed 
with the gospel message, he has become feel- 
ingly sensible of his lost condition, and before 
I have left him, has bowed his neck to the 
yoke of Christ. The doctrine of the Cross is 
to those " who perish, foolishness, but to those 
who are saved, it is the power of God and the 
wisdom of God." 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 189 



THE INFIDEL LADY. 

Returning from the funeral of a child in the 
city of * * * *, in 1831, I met, at the house 
of a friend, a widow lady of middle age, and 
of more than ordinary intelligence. After a 
little general conversation, I alluded to the 
funeral I had been attending, and inquired 
whether she felt herself prepared for that 
great change which we must all of us sooner 
or later experience. 

After a few moments hesitation, she replied 
to my question by saying, that she was an infi- 
del, and did not receive the Bible as the word 
of God. 

After conversing with her long enough to 
satisfy myself that she had read the Holy 
Scriptures, and was acquainted with the com- 
mon arguments which infidels have used 
against them, I inquired whether she believed 
in the existence of an infinitely wise and good 
God. 

She replied that she did, and thought that 
the Bible gave a truthful account of his per- 
fections. 



190 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

I then inquired, "Do you believe that we 
were all created by this God V 

She replied, " certainly I do, I believe we 
are all the creatures of his power." I then 
said to her, " Madam, as you appear to have 
read the Bible, will you tell me whether an 
unshaken belief in its divine origin, and a cor- 
dial reception of the religion which it incul- 
cates, would not be calculated to make men 
better and happier, even in this world, than 
such a belief as you cherish V 

She answered, " It must be so ; the Bible 
requires men to love their neighbors as they 
love themselves, and to do unto others as they 
would have others do unto them ; this would 
make good members of society; and the be- 
lief that they were going to heaven when they 
died would make them happy." 

" You have answered truly. The moral 
code of the Bible, if believed and obeyed, 
would regulate, in the most perfect manner, 
all our intercourse with each other ; while its 
rich and precious promises, if received and 
relied on, as coming from God, would elevate 
our affections, raise us above the world, and 
make us happy here. But if the Bible is not 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 191 

a revelation from God, as it professes to be, it 
is one of the most impious compilations of 
falsehood that men have ever attempted to 
palm upon the world ; and yet, according to 
your own admission, a holy, wise, and good 
being, has formed an entire race of intelligent 
creatures, with such minds, that a belief in this 
impious and lying book, will make them bet- 
ter and happier than to believe the truth." 

She remained silent for some time, and then, 
with considerable feeling, replied, " I have 
never before thought of the subject in this 
light*" 

After entreating her to examine the subject 
with care, to see if she could get rid of the 
conclusion at which we had arrived, I left her 
and returned home. 

A short time after this conversation I 
preached an evening lecture in the neighbor- 
hood where this woman resided. After the 
public exercises I gave notice that if there 
were any who wished to converse with me 
about their own spiritual condition, they 
might remain after the congregation had with- 
drawn. To my great joy this widow was one 
who tarried for conversation. She had be- 



192 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

come convinced that she must give up her 
belief in the being and peifections of God, or 
deny what her own judgment and observation 
as well as the history of the world, told her 
was the tendency of a belief in, and a cordial 
reception of the word of God, or she must re- 
nounce her infidelity. The two first she could 
not do, and she had done the last ; and was 
come to inquire what she must do to be saved. 
She felt that her infidelity had resulted from a 
depraved heart, rather than from an enlight- 
ened mind, and trembled for herself as an 
undone sinner. I pointed out to her, as 
plainly as I could, the way of salvation. I 
told her that Jesus Christ had come to seek 
and to save that which was lost ; and if she 
would submit to him and accept of his offered 
mercy, she would be accepted. 

After a few days she indulged a hope in 
Christ, and at the next communion united 
herself with the people of God, and for years 
afterwards, I knew her as a consistent Chris- 
tian, adorning the doctrine of God her Saviour, 
by a well-ordered life and conversation. 






INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 193 



A WORD SPOKEN IN SEASON. 

While on a journey for my health in 1812, 
on a hot, sultry day, I called at a farm-house in 
one of the beautiful towns in Berkshire County, 
Mass., to procure a drink of water. There 
happened to be no one in the house but a 
young lady, apparently about sixteen years of 
age, to whom I was introduced by my travel- 
ling companion, and from whom I received a 
glass of that refreshing and healthy beverage, 
which flows in such rich abundance from the 
hills of New England. 

As I arose to depart I took her hand, and 
said, " Permit me, my dear girl, before I leave 
you, to inquire whether you have yet given 
your heart to your precious Saviour ?" 

She replied in the negative, while the tear 
that stole down her cheek, showed that she 
was not without feeling. 

I then said to her, " My child, I am a minis- 
ter of Jesus Christ, and as such it is not only 
my duty, but my privilege, to offer you eternal 
life, upon the condition of your repenting of 
9 



194 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

your sins, and putting your trust in him ; will 
you accept of this offer V 

She answered with deep emotion, " I cannot 
decide that question now." 

I said, " You will have to decide it now. 
Jesus Christ is beseeching you by me, to be 
reconciled to God, and it you do not choose to 
tell me what your decision is, He will take the 
answer from your heart, and it will be recorded 
in heaven, that you have either accepted the 
offer of eternal life made to you by your Re- 
deemer to-day, or that you have rejected him 
again." 

She seemed to take a new view of her fear- 
ful responsibility, and wept convulsively ; but 
could not be prevailed on to tell me what her 
decision was. 

After repeating some appropriate passages 
of Scripture to show her her duty and her 
danger I left her, expecting to see and hear of 
her no more, until we should meet at the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ. 

Years afterwards, on stepping upon a steam- 
boat in New York to go to Philadelphia, my 
name being called by some of my friends on 
board, a gentleman came up to me, and asked 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 195 

if my name was Wisner. On being answered 
in the affirmative, he inquired if I had ever 

been in the town of , in Berkshire County. 

I told him I had passed through it in 1812. 
He then informed me, that when he was coming 
from home, a lady requested him, if he should 
meet me on his journey, to say, that she was 
the individual who gave me the glass of water 
— that what I had said on that occasion sunk 
so deep into her heart, that she could find no 
rest until she hoped she had closed in with the 
offer of her blessed Lord — and that she wished 
me to accept her thanks for what was to her, 
truly, " a word spoken in season." 

How many opportunities more promising 
than the one which, by the grace of God, 
resulted in the conversion of this dear girl to 
her Saviour, do Christians and Christian minis- 
ters suffer to pass unimproved; and yet the 
Master has said, " Sow your seed in the morn- 
ing, and in the evening withhold not thine 
hand." The redemption of the soul is pre- 
cious, and it will soon cease forever, and ought 
we not to embrace every opportunity, to warn 
sinners to flee from the wrath to come ? 



196 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 



THE OPPORTUNITY OF SAVING A SOUL LOST BY 
NEGLECT. 

Not many years since, a yonng lady in one 
of our western cities, who was a leader in all 
the gay and fashionable amusements of the 
place, was awakened to a sense of her lost and 
perishing condition. She studiously concealed 
her feelings from every one, until a young com- 
panion, with whom she was in habits of great 
intimacy, came to spend a night with her. 
They retired to bed very early, and the 
awakened girl unbosomed herself freely to her 
young friend, and told her that she had in- 
tended that night to have visited her pastor. 

Her visitor told her that it was yet early, 
and if she would get up, they would both go 
to see their minister, and talk with him about 
the salvation of their souls, for she began to 
feel that it was a matter of great importance. 

The awakened one gladly acceded to this 
proposal, and in a few minutes they were both 
on their way to their pastor's house. 

When arrived, they found three of the 
members of the church visiting their good min- 



in-cideots in a pastok's life. 197 

ister and his lady, and they all spent the 
remainder of the' evening together; but the 
girls could not bring themselves to speak of 
the object of their visit, and neither the pastor 
nor his wife, or any one else, said a word to 
them about the state of their own hearts. The 
time was spent, as it too often is on such occa- 
sions, in conversation about earthly things. 

The effect of this neglect upon the young 
ladies was, that they both came to the conclu- 
sion that their pastor did not believe what he 
preached, and the awakened one dismissed her 
serious thoughts, and returned to her old 
companions, and to her gay and fashionable 
amusements, and was more vain and thought- 
less than ever. 

I have not published this sad result of 
ministerial neglect to expose the faults of a 
brother, but for the purpose of warning pas- 
tors and private Christians, of the danger of 
forgetting the command of Paul to Timothy, 
" Be instant in season and out of season, re- 
prove, rebuke and exhort with all long suffer- 
ing and doctrine." 

We never know when we are in the com- 
pany of impenitent sinners, but it may be the 



198 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

last time ; nor can we be sure that the Holy 
Spirit is not striving with them, and that God 
has not sent them to us for the very purpose 
of giving us an opportunity to do them good. 
Souls are so precious, probation is so short, 
• and life so uncertain, that we should waste no 
time in idle conversation with those who are 
every moment in danger of sinking down to 
hell, but should endeavor to convince them of 
their perilous situation, and warn them to flee 
from the wrath to come. 



THE SAD EFFECTS OF PARENTAL NEGLECT. 

At a time of more than usual feeling in my 
congregation, I found in my meeting of inquiry 
a young man of genteel appearance, who I had 
never met before. After conversing with 
some other inquirers, I sat down by the stran- 
ger and inquired about the state of his mind, 
when, to my perfect astonishment, he informed 
me that he was an infidel. 



incidents in a pastoe's life. 199 

I then said to him, " There are several kinds 
of infidels, to what class do yon belong V 

" His reply was, " I am an atheist, I do not 
believe in the Saviour, I do not believe in the 
being of a God." 

" What induced you to come here, if these 
are your sentiments V 

" I cannot tell : I was at your meeting this 
afternoon and heard your invitation to those 
who wished to converse with you about the 
salvation of their own souls, and I thought I 
would avail myself of the opportunity." 

" But why do you wish to converse with me 
on that subject if you do not believe even in 
the being of a God V 1 

"I do not know how to answer you, — I feel 
very unhappy — I have no resting-place — I 
have indulged my infidelity until I am unable 
to believe anything." 

" Where was you born and brought up ? 
and what was your early training." 

" I was born and brought up in the city of 
New York, and my father and mother were 
both members of the Presbyterian Church." 

" What led you, in the land of Bibles and 
Sabbaths, and with Christian parents to watch 



200 incidents m a pastoe's life. 

over and instruct you, to become an infi- 
del?" 

" O, sir, my parents, while they were moral 
people, and regular attendants on the ordi- 
nances of the Church, never, to my recollec- 
tion, said anything to me about the salvation 
of my soul. This first led me to doubt the 
truth of religion. I thought if my parents 
believed it, they could not neglect the soul of 
their child as they did. These doubts grew 
with my growth, and strengthened with my 
strength, and prepared me at eighteen to attend 
the lectures of Fanny Wright, and join the 
society of free inquirers. Here I became con- 
firmed in my unbelief. Soon after I had be- 
come initiated into this society, business called 
me to the South, where I have spent three 
years, the last in New Orleans. I have asso- 
ciated most of the time with men of my own 
sentiments. I have indulged my skepticism 
until my mind is becoming unsettled about the 
truths of history, and almost everything else. 
I am very unhappy, and I thought I would 
come and converse with you." 

I told him I was glad he had come, for I 
thought he needed the influence of religion to 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 201 

preserve his mind from derangement, but as 
the evening was too far spent to protract our 
conversation at that time, I would invite him 
to meet me the next week at a place which I 
named to him. 

At our next meeting I led him back to first 
principles, placed before him the laws of evi- 
dence, and induced him to apply those laws to 
the evidences of the divinity of the Holy 
Scriptures. He soon became deeply interested 
in the subject, and in the course of the even- 
ing became convinced that the infidel argument 
was as fatal to secular history as it was to the 
divinity of the Christian system ; and that 
there was more historical evidence in favor of 
the truths of the Bible, than there was of the 
existence of such men as Alexander, Julius 
Csesar, or Napoleon. 

He continued to visit me often, and in a few 
weeks became established in his belief of the 
Holy Scriptures, and indulged a hope in 
Christ. 

He was soon called away from the place 

where I resided, and I have never seen him 

since, but from my short acquaintance with 

him, before and after his change, I shall hope 

9* 



202 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

to see him at the right hand of the Judge at 
the last day. 

I have recorded this incident as a warning 
to Christian parents, not to neglect the religious 
instruction of their children. If you do not 
manifest a suitable interest about the salvation 
of their souls, how can they believe that you 
are sincere in your Christian professions ? Was 
not the conclusion of this young man, the 
natural one ? Is it possible for parents to 
believe the Scriptures, and yet take no pains 
to lead their children to Christ ? 

The children of Israel were directed by God, 
to teach their religion to their children, not on 
the Sabbath-day only, but on every day of 
the week. They were to write the great truths 
of the Bible upon the posts of their doors, 
and upon their gates, where their children 
could read them ; and they were to talk to 
them about these truths, as things which 
belonged to their peace, when they should lie 
down, and when they should rise up, when 
they sat in the house, and when they walked 
by the way. And if this was necessary for 
the Jews, when they were living under a 
Theocracy, and guarded on every side against 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 203 

the encroachments of infidelity, is it less needful 
in our land, where we are surrounded by every 
modification of infidelity, and where our chil- 
dren meet with the panders of vice at every 
corner of the street % It is the want of such 
training that fills our churches with impenitent 
and disorderly members, and our nation with 
latitudinarianism and infidelity ; and unless 
some means can be devised to turn the hearts 
of parents to their children, that high regard 
for the word of God, and for the institutions 
of our holy religion, which were once the dis- 
tinguishing elements in our national character, 
will depart ; and that atmosphere of Christian 
influence which has hitherto sustained the 
health and the life of our free institutions, will 
give place to the deadly malaria from the stag- 
nant pools of formalism and infidelity, which 
will poison the life blood of our nation. 



204 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 



AN IMPROPER USE OF SELF-EXAMINATION. 

A well-educated, intelligent, and amiable 
female member of my church, was for years 
subject to the most perplexing doubts respect- 
ing her own religious character, and the most 
distressing fears of finally failing of the great 
salvation. While her friends were confident 
of her piety she was constantly writing bit- 
ter things against herself, and was tormented 
with the most bitter apprehensions of being 
found at last on the left hand of her Judge 
and. Saviour. The anguish of her soul was 
sometimes so great, that while I have been 
conversing with her about her spiritual state, 
her whole frame has become agitated to such 
a degree that her teeth would chatter like 
those of a person in a violent paroxysm of 
ague. 

At first I endeavored to comfort her by 
calling her attention to the consolation that 
there is in Christ. But this did not afford her 
any relief. She prized these blessings very 
highly, but feared they were not for her. She 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIPE. 205 

appreciated the fullness that there was in 
Christ, but would constantly discover some- 
thing in her own heart or life which made her 
afraid to rely on that fullness. 

After several interviews, in all of which I 
had failed to communicate comfort, or to 
satisfy myself as to the real difficulty in the 
case, I endeavored to get her to open her mind 
unreservedly to me, as her pastor, keeping no- 
thing back. Though I could not get her to 
unbosom herself as fully as I desired, yet I 
thought I could discover that she was spending 
her time, and exerting her energies in trying 
to satisfy herself whether the hope she had 
been resting on would prove an anchor to her 
soul in the final storm. To decide this ques- 
tion, she was constantly comparing her own 
feelings with the feelings of other Christians ; 
and her own heart and life, with the standard 
furnished in the word of God. She would 
always arise from this kind of examination 
with her hope well-nigh destroyed, and her 
mental anguish greatly aggravated. I felt 
deeply distressed for her, and one day said to 
her, " I think you had better look off from 
yourself, and give up examining your olcl 



206 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

hopes. It is comparatively of small import- 
ance whether you have ever been a Christian 
or not, if you will now close in with the offers 
of mercy. The Holy Scriptures inform you 
that ' now is the accepted time, and to-day is 
the day of salvation.' If this is Christ's ac- 
cepted time make it yours." 

" But must I not look at myself to know 
truly whether my heart is right with God,, 
and whether I do really love my Saviour ?" 

" Your heart will never be made right by the 
contemplation of yourself, nor will you ever 
find any love to Christ, by searching for it in 
your own bosom. It is only when we behold, 
as in a glass, the glory of God, as it shines in 
the face of Jesus Christ, that we are changed 
into his image, from glory to glory ; and it is 
only when we are engaged in the contempla- 
tion of that image that our affections are 
enkindled, and flow out spontaneously in emo- 
tions of love." 

" But are we not required in the Holy Scrip- 
tures to examine ourselves, whether we be in 
the faith?" 

" Certainly we are. We are bound to know 
whether we believe the record which God has 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 207 

given us respecting his Son. But this exami- 
nation will take us out of ourselves ; and will 
bring us to contemplate the glorious doctrines 
of the Cross of Christ, and while it inflames 
our love will confirm our hope. If you will 
confine yourself to this kind of self-examina- 
tion, it will not involve you in darkness ; it 
will be looking off from yourself to Jesus, the 
author and finisher of your faith. Do you not 
see the difference between this sort of exami- 
nation and that which you have been pursu- 
ing?" 

" I think I can. But is there not another 
kind of self-examination spoken of in the Holy 
Scriptures V 

" Yes, there is. We must examine ourselves 
to see if we are living in any sinful practice. 
David not only did this, but he was so desi- 
rous of forsaking every way of sin, that he 
besought the Searcher of hearts to help to 
search him. He prayed, ' Search me, O, God, 
and know my heart ; try me and know my 
thoughts ; and see if there be any evil way in 
me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' He 
wanted God to search, and show him whether 
there was any evil way in him." 



\ 



208 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOKS LITE. 

" This is tlie way that I examine myself. I 
look into my heart and look back upon my 
life to see what manner of person I am." 

"Here is the difference, my child, between 
the two kinds of examination ; yon examine 
yonrself to see whether you are a child of God. 
David and Panl examined themselves to see 
what there was in them that was wrong, that 
they might put it away ; yon look at your heart 
and life to see if yon had not better give up 
your hope. They looked at theirs to see if 
they could not find some sins from which they 
might purify themselves. The tendency of 
their self-examination was the death of their 
sins ; the tendency of yours is the death of 
your hope." 

" But ought I not, when I examine myself 
and find that I am full of sin, to give up my 
hopes ?" 

" By no means. You should give up your 
sins. What good would your self-examination 
do you if it only led you to give up your 
hope ? The Christian hope leads to the puri- 
fying of our heart and life. The Scriptures 
do not say that he who giveth up his hope 
purifieth himself, but, " He who hath this 



/ 



INCIDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 209 

hope in him purifieth himself even as He is 
pure.' Satan would have the Christian give 
up his hope, because he knows that without it 
he will make no progress in holiness." 

" But how can we hope when we see no- 
thing but sin in ourselves ?" 

" By coming out from ourselves, and putting 
our trust in the Lord our righteousness. If 
your heart was as holy as Gabriel's, you could 
not put your trust there, or build up your 
hope on such a foundation. The Christian 
does not purify himself that he may have 
hope, but because he has hope ; it is the 
anchor of his soul, and when Christ, who is his 
hope, shall appear, then he shall appear with 
him in glory. Fix your eye on Christ, throw 
yourself at his feet, and contemplate his love, 
and see if a flame will not kindle up in your 
own heart, which, like the light on the path 
of the just, will shine more and more to the 
perfect day." 

It was about four o'clock P. M., when this 
distressed female left my study, and that even- 
ing I received from her a note, informing me 
that she was full of joy and peace in believing. 
She was so clear in her mind, and so happy in 



210 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

Christ, that she doubted whether she had ever 
known what the Christian hope was before. 

Multitudes of God's people, like this female, 
spend their lives in darkness and doubt, be- 
cause they let their frames and feelings, their 
short-comings and misdoings, get between 
themselves and Christ. They forget that He 
bore their sins in his own body on the tree ; 
and that if they are his, they were construc- 
tively crucified with him. It was this view of 
our relation to Christ which led the apostle, in 
the eighth chapter of Romans, exurtingly to 
inquire, " Who shall lay anything to the 
charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifi- 
eth : who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who 
is even at the right hand of God, who also 
maketh intercession for us P 

Reader, permit me to detain you a short 
time, to contemplate this precious apostolic 
amplification of the ground of our hope. 

In the preceding chapter, Paul shows the 
hopeless wickedness of the man who should 
strive to obtain justification by the law. In 
the first thirty-two verses of this eighth chap- 
ter, he expatiates upon the blessedness of the 



ESTCIDEISTTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 211 

individual who had taken refuge under the 
blood of atonement. From the 14th to the 
17th verses, inclusive, we are told that " as 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the 
sons of God;" and that such have not re- 
ceived the spirit of bondage again to fear, 
but the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, 
Abba, Father." These are the adopted chil- 
dren of God ; they are not only heirs, but are 
the " joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." Pause here, 
dear reader, and lift up your heart in adoration 
and praise. Here is the broad foundation of 
the Christian hope, and the climax of his bless- 
edness. The moment a sinner believes, he be- 
comes by adoption the heir of God, and the 
joint-heir with Jesus Christ. He holds his in- 
heritance to that kingdom which was prepared 
for him before the foundation of the world, by 
the same deed by which the Saviour holds his. 
We are heirs in common with Christ, to an 
" inheritance which is incorruptible, and unde- 
nted, eternal in the heavens." If his title is 
sure, ours cannot fail. 

The Apostle having thus laid the foundation 
of Christian hope, by showing that those that 
are in Christ must stand or fall witli him, 



212 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

exultingly inquires, " Who shall lay anything 
to the charge of God's elect" or chosen ones ? 
This question after what he had said, of the 
manner in which they were related to the 
Saviour as joint-heirs with him, would seem 
sufficient to silence every doubt that might 
have entered the Christian bosom ; but the 
Apostle wrote by the inspiration of that Spirit 
who knew our slowness of heart to believe, and 
therefore he amplifies, and unfolds more mi- 
nutely the grounds of our safety. He begins 
this amplification by laying down an axiom in 
Christian theology, viz. : " That it is God that 
justifieth," and then asks, " who is he that con- 
demneth V Here let us repeat this soul-com- 
forting question, and sound it through the 
ranks of God's people, and through the ranks 
of caviling sinners, and through the ranks of 
those fallen spirits, who are the accusers of the 
brethren, " It is God that justifieth ; who is he 
that condemneth V 

Trembling believer, It is God who justifieth 
thy guilty soul, who shall dare to condemn one 
whom the Almighty has justified ? 

Caviling sinner, thou who art always finding 
fault with the Christian, " It is God that 



INCIDENTS EN" A PASTOB's LIFE. 213 

justifieth, who is lie that condemneth V Ac- 
cusing spirits, " It is God that justifieth, who 
is he that condemneth V 

But wicked men, and fallen spirits, and 
weak consciences, may still say, look what a 
vile imperfect creature you are, and then say 
how you dare hope that a God of eternal 
purity and immutable justice will ever justify 
you? 

Well, we are not afraid to answer our own 
accusing consciences, or accusing sinners, or 
accusing devils, on this subject. But we will 
not do this as Satan would have us, and as 
wicked men expect, and as self-righteous unbe- 
lief will sometimes suggest, by apologizing for 
our sins, or by denying them, nor yet by 
bringing up any good works, or right feelings, 
to set off against them. If we should do either 
of these things, our own heart would join with 
wicked men and devils in condemning us. No, 
ye accusers of God's people, it is not by works 
of righteousness which our own hands have 
wrought, nor by any holy emotions which our 
own hearts have felt, that we would meet your 
argument for our condemnation. We would 
lay our hands on our mouths and our mouths 



214 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

in the dust, and acknowledge that we are in 
our own persons unclean. We have no con- 
troversy with you on this score. But still we 
have a plan which none of you dare gainsay ; 
and that is, " That Christ hath died, and arose 
again, and is now at the right hand of God, 
making intercession for us." These three facts 
constitute our defence, sustain our hope, and 
fill us with joy and peace. And, 

First, Christ has died. But he did not die 
for himself. He was crucified for our offences. 
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. 
We were constructively crucified with him and 
in him. The apostle says, " I am crucified 
with Christ, yet nevertheless, I live ; yet, not 
I, but Christ, who liveth in me." Here is the 
glorious mystery of man's redemption. We 
were crucified with Christ, and now Christ 
lives in us. So far as our personal justification 
is concerned, it is as if we had in our own 
persons been tried and found guilty of some 
offence against the State, and had been exe- 
cuted to satisfy the penalty of the law, and 
afterwards had been raised by Christ from the 
dead. As in that supposed case, the law of 
man could have no farther demands upon us ; 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOk's LIFE. 215 

so, in this case, the law of God can have no 
further demand. It was satisfied by our death 
on the cross with Christ. 

Secondly, Christ has risen again. But as he 
did not die for himself, so he did not rise for 
himself. As he was put to death for our of- 
fences, so he was raised again for our justifica- 
tion ; and as we were constructively crucified 
with him, so we have been constructively 
raised with him. As we were partakers with 
him in his death, so also we are partakers with 
him in his resurrection. The Apostle saith, 
" It is not I who live, but Christ who liveth 
in me." But, 

Thirdly, and lastly ; Christ is now at the 
right hand of the Father, to make intercession 
for his people. And what does he plead for 
us before the throne of the Eighteous Judge ? 
Our merits ? No. Our good works ? No. 
Our good frames and feelings ? No. What 
then % His own atoning death, in which we 
were by a gracious construction united with 
him, and his own perfect and spotless right- 
eousness. Will this plea be availing? If it 
is, then let us away with all our unbelief. He 
was crucified for our offences, and raised again 



216 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 

for our justification. "We are complete in 
him." " There is, therefore, now, no condem- 
nation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
" The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, 
hath made all such free from the law of sin 
and death." 



TRIUMPH IN DEATH. 

In the month of May, 1832, I was called 
home from Philadelphia, by a letter announc- 
ing the sickness of my third son, a lad of 
fifteen years. 

I reached home on the first of June, and 
found my poor child pale and emaciated, but 
considered by his physician out of danger. I 
endeavored to converse with him about the 
state of his mind, but could not overcome a 
backwardness which he had always manifested 
to speak of his own feelings. On the 27th of 
July he became rather more unwell, and on 
Lord's day, the 5th of August, was evidently 



INCIDENTS IN A PAST0K ? S LIFE. 217 

sinking, and the doctor gave np all hope of his 
recovery. He now called me to his bed and 
told me that he felt he must die ; and that he 
had no hope that he was a Christian, and 
wished me to pray for him. I conversed freely 
with him, and found that he had correct views 
both in regard to himself and the way of sal- 
vation ; but his own guilt, in having rejected 
Christ so long, made him afraid to take hold 
of the offers of mercy. I set before him the 
promise, " He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved," and urged him to exercise 
faith in the Lord Jesus ; and take hold of this 
single promise, and rest his salvation upon it. 
I knelt by his bed, and, with a bleeding heart, 
plead the promises of the Abrahamic covenant 
for my dying boy. He continued in great 
distress of mind for five or six hours, when he 
seemed to take an intelligent hold on the pro- 
mises, and hope dawned upon his soul. From 
this time till Friday,night, though he seemed 
to be in a dying state, and was almost con- 
stantly exercised with excruciating pain, he 
was most of the time tranquil and happy, and 
bore his sufferings with the most uncomplain- 
ing patience. He would say to me, "I can 

10 



218 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE ? S LIFE. 

suffer anything while my mind rests on 
Christ." 

On the 15th, he revived, and seemed to 
come up from the gates of death. He became 
free from pain, all the violence of his symp- 
toms abated, and his physician thought he 
would recover. He remained free from pain, 
and in a happy state of mind, till the 26th, 
when we became convinced that the Lord had 
only granted him this temporary relief from 
his suffering, that he might exhibit the fruits 
of the Spirit, and comfort his afflicted friends, 
by affording them additional evidence of his 
having passed from death unto life. This he 
did up to the moment of his departure. His 
intellectual faculties were mature beyond his 
age, and under the influence of the Holy Spirit 
endeared him to all who were conversant with 
him. "When we would speak to him about his 
feelings in view of his recovery, he would 
shake his head, and tell ; us he was afraid of 
returning health, lest it might obscure his view 
of Christ, and make him worldly-minded. 

On the 27th, his disease, which had been on 
his bowels, was transferred to his lungs, and 
his sufferings returned, to abate no more till 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LITE. 219 

he rested in death. But the return of his suf- 
ferings, and the certainty of his death, did not 
at all disturb the serenity of his mind, except 
in a few short intervals, when he would lose 
sight of his Saviour ; and even then, though 
he would be greatly distressed, he gave strong 
evidence of a sanctified heart. His trouble, in 
those seasons, did not seem to arise from the 
the absence of hope, but from losing sight of 
his Eedeemer. He appeared more like Mary, 
weeping at the empty sepulchre, because she 
could not find her crucified Lord, than like one 
who did not put his trust in the promises. " I 
know," he would say, " that the promises are 
sure, but how can I die with Jesus hiding his 
face from me." On the night of the 29th, I 
retired to get a little rest, for I was just 
recovering from the cholera, but the image 
of my suffering child would not permit me to 
sleep. 

At 3 o'clock A. M., he sent for me ; and when 
I entered his room he requested all but his 
mother and myself to leave him. He then 
told us he felt a change coming over him, 
which indicated a speedy dissolution, and he 
wished us to pray that he might be supported 



220 INCIDENTS m a pastoe's life. 

under his last struggle. I examined him, and 
finding that the hand of death was indeed 
upon him, we knelt, and with feelings which 
none but parents under similar circumstances 
can ever know, poured out our souls to our 
Heavenly Father, in prayer, that the Angel of 
the Covenant might walk with our beloved 
child through the dark valley. About sunrise 
he wished me to call the family together, that 
he might unite with us once more in our morn- 
ing devotions. After prayer it pleased the 
Lord again to hide his face from him, and he 
endured one of the most dreadful seasons of 
mental agony I ever witnessed. It lasted for 
nearly twenty minutes, when his soul was 
again cheered ' by the light of his Saviour's 
countenance. He then insisted that his mother 
and I should go and take some breakfast. 
When we returned he requested us to fortify 
ourselves for the trying scene. " Don't appear 
distressed," he said, with a voice full of affec- 
tion, " for that will distress me, and make the 
last struggle more painful." He then request- 
ed me to pray once more for the divine pre- 
sence in the trying hour. After prayer he lay 
quiet, and seemed much exhausted. I took his 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 221 

cold hand, and told him if Christ was with 
him to press mine, which he immediately did, 
and then said, " It is a struggle — Satan troubles 
me, but if I should go to hell, I would go lean- 
ing on Jesus." He lay tranquil, and appa- 
rently happy, for a few moments, and then, 
with such a countenance as I had never before 
seen, lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven, 
and said, in a sweet strong voice, " I am com- 
ing /" then turning to me and his mother, with 
a look of indescribable tenderness, he said, 
" He is waiting — farewell." And turning his 
eyes again towards heaven, exclaimed, " I am 
coming ! O, what love !" The silver cord 
was then broken, and the spirit fled : but the 
impress of a heavenly mind was left upon his 
countenance until the coffin and the grave hid 
it from our sight. 

I have given the reader this brief memoir 
of my son, not from a desire to speak of my- 
self, or of my family ; but from a wish to mag- 
nify the grace of God, and to induce parents 
to be more faithful in preparing their children 
for the hour of death. Let those of us who 
have baptized children, yet living without 
Christ, wrestle with God in prayer, night and 



222 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

day, for them. Let us plead the covenant, 
though we have broken it on our part, and 
never let go of the promises while our children 
are the subject of prayer. Let us never forget 
that God is " merciful and gracious, long-suf- 
fering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ini- 
quity, transgression and sin." 

The baptism of our children is not an un- 
meaning ceremony, which may be performed 
when convenient and agreeable, and may be 
neglected with impunity ; but a solemn cove- 
nant transaction between ourselves and the 
Almighty, in which our little ones are deeply 
interested. " The promise is to you and your 
children." The ordinance is to us what cir- 
cumcision was to the Jews, " a seal of the right- 
eousness of faith." The seal is changed, but 
the covenant is unchangeable. " It was con- 
firmed of God in Christ." Let us engrave this 
covenant on our hearts, meditate upon it, pray 
over it ; and train our children according to 
their relation to God. We should not, as the 
manner of some is, neglect presenting our chil- 
dren for baptism, at the earliest opportunity ; 
and when we receive them back from the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 223 

hands of the minister, we should feel that we 
have bound ourselves to bring them up for 
Christ, and not for the world. Let us keep 
our minds fixed upon the end of their mortal 
course, the hour when their souls will be 
required of them ; and let us see to it, that our 
example and our instruction, and discipline, all 
combine to prepare them for that hour. The 
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is 
the law ; therefore if we would deliver our 
beloved ones from the sting of death, we must 
labor and pray to have them come to him, 
" who is the end of the law for righteousness 
to every one that believeth." 



224 ietcideots in a pastor's life. 



CHRIST'S YOKE. 

At one of my stated Wednesday evening 
lectures, I discoursed to my people from the 
words of the Saviour in Matt. xi. 29 — "Take 
my yoke upon you and learn of me ; for I am 
meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find 
rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and 
my burden is light." 

I told the congregation that the duty of un- 
conditional submission to the Saviour, was 
illustrated in our text by the habits of the ox. 
That as that docile animal would quietly, at 
the bidding of his master, put his neck under 
the yoke, and suffer it to be keyed and made 
fast upon him, without knowing where he was 
to be driven, or how he was to be fed ; so the 
sinner, if he would become the disciple of the 
meek and lowly Saviour, must submit himself 
into his hands without making any conditions. 
He must feel in his heart what the ox express- 
ed by his conduct ; that however the Lord 
might dispose of him, or whatever He might 
require of him, he would be his. I told them 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 225 

that as the ox that thus quietly submitted to 
the yoke, if he had a good master, would be 
kindly provided for, protected and nourished ; 
so the sinner, who unconditionally submitted 
to Christ, would find safety, peace and rest for 
his soul, under the kind protection and care 
of his gracious Redeemer. But as the ox who 
would not submit to the yoke would be led 
to the slaughter ; so the sinner, who would 
not submit to Christ must be miserably de- 
stroyed. 

At the close of the lecture I invited those 
who had made up their minds to take Christ's 
yoke upon them, to meet me in the basement 
room of the house, immediately after the bene- 
diction. 

When I entered the room where I had ap- 
pointed to meet them, I found six individ- 
uals, who professed to have given themselves 
up to the Saviour that night. I examined 
them as carefully as I could, and thought 
they gave evidence of having taken Christ's 
yoke upon them, within the meaning of the 
text. 

How beautifully the Lord illustrates spiritual 
things by temporal ! He takes the objects 
10* 



226 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

with, which we are familiar, to explain and en- 
force those duties which stand indissolubly 
connected with our eternal well-being. His 
figures, like illuminated diagrams, place the 
great truths of our holy religion, so plainly 
and vividly before the mind, that the weakest 
intellect can discern their meaning, and the 
dullest imagination receive their impression. 
A man who was in the congregation, at the 
time to which I have alluded, told me, that the 
text made such an impression on his mind, that 
the whole of the next day, when he was alone 
and thinking on the subject, he would find 
himself involuntarily bowing his head, to place 
his neck under the yoke of Christ. 

Impenitent reader, will you take upon you 
the yoke of Christ, which is easy, or bear the 
galling yoke of sin ? There is no neutrality in 
this war. The one or the other yoke you must 
bear ; and in the one or the other service you 
will spend your time. " Know ye not, that to 
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his 
servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of 
sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteous- 
ness ?" Sin is here by a bold figure, represented 
as an inexorable tyrant, and you as his slave, 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOfc's LIFE. 22? 

or servant ; and the end of this servitude is 
death. The service of sin is a hard service, he 
requires you to do violence to your judgment 
and conscience ; to trample the dear Redeemer 
under your feet, and to do despite unto the 
Holy Spirit. From this hard and disgraceful 
servitude the Saviour calls you away. He in- 
vites you to break the yoke of sin from your 
neck, and take his easy yoke upon you. The 
question which I would press upon your heart 
and conscience is, will you take Christ's yoke 
upon you, or continue the bond-slave of sin ? 
" The wages of sin is death, but the gift of 
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 



228 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 



THE SON WHO WAS LOST FOUND. 

As I was engaged one cold winter morning 
in conversing with a number of awakened 
sinners, in my meeting of inquiry, the door 
was opened, and a poor, bloated inebriate, 
thinly clad, came in trembling with- the cold, 
and took his seat near the stove. When I had 
conversed with all the rest who were present, 
I sat down by the stranger, and inquired what 
his object was in visiting our meeting. To my 
inquiry he gave me, in substance, the following 
answer : " I am a poor, unhappy man, I have 
been for some years in the habit of intemper- 
ance ; a short time since I became offended 
with my father, quarrelled with my wife, and 
left my parents and my family with the inten- 
tion of returning to them no more. I came to 
this place without money, pawned my overcoat 
for my supper and lodging last night, and on 
hearing the bell ring this morning, and learn- 
ing that there was a meeting of inquiry here, 
I have come to see if there is yet mercy for 
such a man as I am." 



INCIDENTS m A PASTOK's LIFE. 229 

" Do you feel that you are a lost sinner and 
justly deserve the wrath of a holy God V I 
inquired. 

" I know I am. I have been religiously 
brought up, have a praying father, and a good 
wife ; but I have made a brute of myself, and 
have abused and forsaken my best friends." 

" Have you drank anything this morning P 

" I have not." 

" Do you mean to give up drinking alto- 
gether and be a sober man V 

" That is my purpose, the Lord helping me." 

,c Do you feel your need of a Saviour V 

"I do." 

" Are you willing now to forsake your sins 
and give yourself up into the hands of the 
Eedeemer to be his forever ?" 

" That is the desire of my heart." 

The time having now come to close our 
meeting, I prayed for the poor inebriate, and 
making an appointment for a meeting in the 
afternoon, I took the stranger home with me 
to dinner. After we had dined I learned that 
he was the son of a deacon in the Presbyterian 
Church, with whom I was acquainted, and at 
whose house I had spent a night soon after I 



230 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

was licensed to preach the gospel. I furnished 
him with money to redeem his coat, and kept 
him in my family nntil he indulged a hope in 
Christ ; and then paid his fare, and put him on 
board the stage to return to his afflicted 
family. 

I have subsequently heard that he got home 
safe, and was a reformed man, and gave his 
friends reason to believe that he had a good 
hope through grace. 

The afflicted father, though he knew not 
where his poor son had gone, followed him 
with his prayers, and that God, who heareth 
the prayers of his people, followed the pro- 
digal with his providential care, and led him 
to a place where the Spirit was then being 
poured out, conducted him to the meeting of 
inquiry, and put him under the care of his 
father's friend, by whom he was fed and 
lodged, and sent back to be a comfort to his 
afflicted parent, and a blessing to his wife and 
children. Surely it is safe to trust the Lord, 
and we should never give our children up 
while they remain on probationary ground. 
When they have thrown themselves beyond 
the reach of our counsel, and are so far re- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 231 

moved from us, that we can exercise no care 
over them, we can still pray for them. If they 
are baptized children we can plead the pro- 
mises of the covenant with a covenant-keeping 
God. 



SIN'S VICTIM. 

While visiting some friends in the village 
of * * * *, I called to see a wretched female 
who had been seduced from the path of virtue 
in her early youth, and, from despair of re- 
trieving a lost reputation, had subsequently 
abandoned herself to a life of infamy. I found 
her in a little log cabin alone, lying upon that 
bed from which she never arose. She was a 
little past the middle age, and had the re- 
mains of an intelligent and interesting counte- 
nance, but misery and despair sat enthroned 
upon her brow. 

On inquiring about the state of her health, 
and her prospects for another world, she re- 
plied, with deep emotion : 



232 incidents m a pastor's life. 

" Oh, I am very near my grave, and I know 
I shall be in hell as soon as I am dead." 

I said, " Jesus Christ came into the world to 
seek and to save that which was lost, and if 
you will put your trust in him, even now, He 
will have mercy." 

" Oh, it is too late, my days have been spent 
in sin, they are now numbered and I am 
lost!" 

"You have yet a space given you for re- 
pentance, and though it is the eleventh hour, 
if you will come to Christ, he will in no wise 
cast you off." 

" If Christ were mine I should now be 
happy, but He is not mine, I have abused his 
grace, have filled up the measure of my guilt, 
and must eat the fruit of my own doings." 

After trying in vain to lead her to the Sa- 
viour, I left her, writhing under the reproaches 
of a guilty conscience; with nothing but a 
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indig- 
nation from the presence of the Lord. 

She died soon after I left, and was buried, 
and, if her own apprehensions were realised, is 
now lifting up her eyes in hell, being in tor- 
ment ; and when ten thousand years shall have 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 233 

run their ample round, she will be no nearer 
the end of her sufferings than she is at present. 
How true it is that " The wicked are driven 
away in their wickedness." 

Reader, I have given you, in this incident, a 
glance at the life and death, and prospects for 
eternity, of a victim of seduction. Here was 
an interesting girl, of tender years, who fell 
into the snare of the seducer. She was first 
betrayed and ruined, and afterwards driven, 
by remorse and shame, from her once peaceful 
home, and from respectable society, to the 
company and the pursuits of the abandoned 
and the vile. This is not an isolated case. 
Thousands are thus betrayed and ruined, in 
our own land, every year. It is estimated that 
thirty thousand American females are annually 
sacrificed upon the altar of this Moloch. Con- 
template the wretchedness which the disgrace 
and ruin of so many children must occasion to 
the families out of which they have been taken, 
and then form an estimate of the guilt of the 
libertine. The thief who steals our property 
is incarcerated in the penitentiary, and the 
man who imbues his hands in his neighbor's 
blood, expiates his guilt upon the scaffold; 



234 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

and shall the fiends who rob their victims of 
what is more precious than life, and drag them 
down to a premature grave, by the steps which 
take hold on hell, occupy a place in the social 
circle of civilized men ? The temporal evil is 
the least of the sad results of this sin. It 
" kills beyond the grave." It not only spreads 
the mantle of despair over the domestic circle, 
and eats out the soul from the social virtues, 
and fills the ground with the putrid carcases 
of its slain, but it will feed upon the souls of 
its victims in the world of woe. Its work of 
pollution and misery and death here is the 
prelude to the dismay, and agony, and despair 
of the world to come. I know that it has 
become fashionable to feel that this sin must 
not be spoken of, or written about, by the 
friends of virtue and religion, lest we promote 
the evil which we design to put down. But 
this is a device of Satan, that the poison might 
be administered without the antidote, and the 
temptation presented without the way of 
escape. But this must not be suffered any 
longer. The pulpit and the press, and the 
domestic fireside, must speak out on this sub- 
ject ; and the truths of God's word, and the 



INCIDENTS IN" A PASTOR'S LIFE. 235 

trutiis of history, and the truths of observa- 
tion, must be made to shine and burn about 
this deed of darkness, until its guilt and pol- 
lution, and misery and ruin, shall become so 
fixed in the mind, that, by the laws of associa- 
tion, the temptation which it presents shall 
become as revolting and as dreadful to the 
mind, as the damnation to which it leads. 
This must be done. Fashion must no longer 
protect, nor false delicacy screen, the libertine 
from the rebuke of the friends of virtue and 
religion. He must be driven from his hiding 
place, and stripped of his disguise, and held 
up in his true character, a pimp, or male bawd, 
" who swears but to deceive, and smiles but to 
destroy" 



236 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 



THE YOUNG ENGLISHMAN. 

While sitting by a comfortable fire, one 
cold evening, my son came in and told me 
there was a young man at the door who 
wished to procure work. As such applications 
were somewhat frequent at that time, I sent 
word to him that I did not wish to employ 
him. When my son returned he told me the 
man wept when he left the door. I sent im- 
mediately after him and had him brought in, 
and inquired about his circumstances. He told 
me he was just from England, and was in 
search of an uncle, who lived in Cincinnati ; 
that he had expended the last cent of his 
money, was worn out with fatigue, and knew 
not what to do. I inquired whether he could 
saw wood, but found him unacquainted with 
that and almost every kind of ordinary labor. 
He had been brought up in an apothecary 
store as a sort of under-clerk, and was ignorant 
of almost everything else. 

Though he was of little use to me, I could 
not turn him away, and told him he might 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 237 

remain with me and work enough to pay for 
his board. He joyfully accepted my offer, and 
took up his abode in my family. 

I inquired as to the state of his mind, and 
found that he was a speculative believer in 
divine revelation, and felt that he must be a 
Christian or be lost ; but had no idea that he 
had anything more to do than read the Bible, 
go to meeting, and say his prayers. My first 
object was to turn his attention to those pas- 
sages of Scripture in which the sinner is called 
upon to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He acknowledged his obligation to 
comply with these requirements, but thought 
he could not do this until his heart was 
changed. I told him that God commanded 
the sinner to " make to himself a new heart 
and a new spirit." That God had provided a 
Saviour for him, and did not require him to 
wait for anything, but to repent and believe 
now. This was evidently a view of duty he 
had never taken before, and he became serious 
and troubled, in view of his responsibility and 
his danger ; and in the course of three or four 
weeks he indulged a comfortable hope in 
Christ. 



238 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LITE. 

He remained in my family until the spring 
opened, when I supplied him with money to 
bear his expenses, and he left us to go to his 
uncle in Cincinnati. 

The doctrine of man's inability to do what 
God commands him, and what the gospel 
makes the condition of his salvation, is keeping 
great multitudes quiet in their sins ; and when 
the sinner is awakened to a sense of his danger 
it often prevents him from coming to Christ. 
While it is true that, " except a man be born 
again he cannot see the kingdom of God," it is 
equally true that the difficulty does not lie in 
the want of ability, but in the want of a will. 
The only reason why all men are not saved, is 
stated by the Saviour himself to be, " That 
they will not come to him that they might 
have life." The invitation of the gospel is, 
" Whosoever will, let him take of the water of 
life freely." To talk about waiting for the 
heart to be changed, is for the sinner to make 
his own unwillingness to come to Christ an 
excuse for not coming. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 239 



THE CUP BLESSED TO THE AWAKENING OF A 
SINNER. 

At one of my communion seasons, before 
the giving of the cup to the deacons, I held it 
up and remarked to the impenitent, who were 
present, that, when they should be asking in 
vain for a drop of water to cool their parched 
tongues, in the world of woe, they would re- 
member that they had accounted themselves 
unworthy of eternal life, and had put the cup 
which was symbolical of Christ's blood away 
from them. 

Early in the week I was called upon by a 
member of the church to go and see a niece 
of his wife, who was visiting them. On being 
introduced to the young lady, I found her 
deeply anxious about herself, as a sinner in the 
sight of God. On inquiring how long she had 
been in that state of mind, she told me that 
she had no particular sense of her guilt or 
danger, until the preceding Sabbath, and that 
it was my holding up the sacramental cup as a 
witness against the impenitent, that convinced 



240 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

her of her guilt and danger. She felt that she 
had on that occasion sealed her rejection of 
her dying Lord, and that if He should treat 
her as she had treated Him, she must mourn 
at the last when her flesh and her body were 
consumed, and say, " How have I hated in- 
struction and my heart despised reproof." 

" Are you willing," said I, " to repent now 
of your great wickedness ?" 

" If to be sorry for my sins is repentance, I 
have repented of them already." 

" There is a repentance by a worldly sorrow 
which worketh death, and needeth to be re- 
pented of, but a godly sorrow worketh repent- 
ance unto life. The first is a sorrow in view of 
the evil to which sin exposes us ; the second is 
a sorrow for sin as committed against a holy 
God. This leads us to hate sin and loathe 
ourselves on account of our wickedness, and to 
turn with our heart from sin to holiness. Is 
your sorrow of the latter kind ?" 

" I think I do loathe myself on account of 
my sins, and earnestly desire to be delivered 
from them." 

" Jesus Christ came into the world, primarily, 
to save his people from their sins. Is he just 



241 



such a Saviour as you need, and as your heart 
desires ?" 

" Oh, I think he is ! But I have rejected 
him so long ! Will he accept of me now V 

" Yes, he will. He says, c now is the 
accepted time, to-day is the day of salva- 
tion.' " 

She seemed affected with the forbearance of 
God, and said she would be his. 

I told her if she would be Christ's, she must 
give herself up entirely to him, and trust her- 
self entirely in his hands, " must deny herself 
all ungodliness, and mortify those youthful 
lusts which drown so many in destruction and 
perdition." 

The next time I saw her was in a large 
company of friends, who had assembled at her 
uncle's house on her account. In the course of 
the evening she came and sat down by me and 
said, a O, Mr. Wisner, how differently I feel 
from what I ever did before ! The world has 
lost its charms. Religion seems now to me, 
not only as the one thing needful, but as the 
one thing to be desired." 

" Is Christ precious to you now ?" 

" O, yes ! infinitely precious !" 
11 



242 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOB's LIFE. 

"How do you feel toward those impenitent 
friends who are here to-night V 

She replied, " I feel deeply anxious for their 
salvation." 

I called on her frequently during her stay 
in the place, and obtained satisfactory evidence 
that she had passed from death unto life. 

She left in a few weeks and returned home, 
and I have never seen her since, but hope she 
will be found at the right hand of the Judge 
in the day of final trial. 

Impenitent sinner, how often have you put 
the cup of salvation away from you ? Have 
yon never felt that those who partook of the 
symbols of the broken body and shed blood 
of your dying Lord, assumed a responsibility 
which you would not dare to take upon your- 
self ? This is a common feeling among se- 
rious-minded, impenitent sinners : and yet it is 
true that the impenitent, who turn their backs 
upon the ordinance, take upon themselves the 
most fearful responsibility. The Christian by 
partaking, sacramentally confesses Christ before 
men ; the impenitent by not partaking, sacra- 
mentally reject him. It is a sacramental trans- 
action to both, and if they are both taken at 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 243 

their word, it will be to the one a savor of life 
unto life, and to the other a savor of death 
unto death. 



GOING DOWN INTO THE WATER. 

At the close of a preparatory lecture, a 
young man who had been examined, and was 
expecting to unite with the church at the ap- 
proaching communion, came up to me in a 
high state of excitement, and told me he was 
in trouble. He could not unite with the 
church as he wished to do, and had intended. 

" Why," said I, " what is the matter ?" 

" O," said he, " some of my Baptist friends 
have been laboring with me on the subject of 
immersion, and though they have not con- 
vinced me that I must be immersed, yet they 
have led me to believe in a mode which differs 
both from yours and theirs ; and I do not see 
that I shall ever be able to make a profession 
of religion." 

Perceiving that he was much agitated, I 



244 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR 7 S LIFE. 

told him to be calm, that if lie wished to be 
baptized with water, in the name of the Father 
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I could bap- 
tize him, and he could unite with the church 
of his choice. 

On hearing this he became calm, and I in- 
quired how he thought he ought to be bap- 
tized. 

" Why," said he, " I feel that I ought to go 
down into the water, as the Eunuch did, and 
there be baptized." 

" And how will you be baptized after you 
get down into the water ?" 

" I think the Bible clearly favors sprinkling, 
and when I have gone down into the water, I 
wish to kneel and be baptized by sprinkling.'" 
I told him if nothing else would satisfy his 
conscience, he should be baptized in that way ; 
but I wished to ask him a few questions first. 
To this he assented, and I said, " When you 
and I shall both go down into the water, as 
Philip and the Eunuch did, will any part of 
the ordinance of baptism be administered V 

" No ; that will only be a preparatory step ; 
but it will be doing as a primitive minister of 
Christ, and a disciple of his day did." 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOB's LIFE. 245 

" We read in another place that an apostle 
baptized the jailor and his household in the 
dwelling connected with the prison. The 
place where the ordinance is administered does 
not appear important: Christ does not require 
us to go into the prison, nor into the water, 
but simply to be baptized with water, in the 
name of the three divine persons. Is not this 
all that he requires of you ?" 

" I see it ! I see it ! it is the ordinance alone 
that I am required to receive. I must be bap- 
tized, but where, or under what particular cir- 
cumstances, is not material." 

His difficulties were all removed, and he 
united with the church and was baptized the 
next Lord's day. 

When men feel that they can be gratified 
in their peculiar notions, about those things 
connected with the outward ordinances of reli- 
gion, which are not essential to their validity, 
they are much more easily convinced of their 
errors. I have always told my people that, 
though I believed our mode of baptism was 
more in accordance with the Holy Scriptures 
than any that had ever been adopted ; yet as 
I considered that other modes of applying the 



246 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

water might constitute valid baptism, I would 
rather baptize by immersion or pouring, than 
have any weak conscience burdened by submit- 
ting to a form which he did not feel would be 
acceptable to Christ. The consequence has 
been, that those who at first thought that they 
must be immersed, when they found I would 
immerse them, if their conscience required it ; 
have been easy to convince that it was not ne- 
cessary. In receiving more than two thousand 
into the church, I have never been-required to 
deviate from my usual method in the adminis- 
tration of the ordinance. 

It is the sectarianism that prevails in the 
world, which prevents Christians from seeing 
eye to eye. When men feel that they must 
maintain all their little peculiarities, or their 
denomination will suffer, they will not be easily 
induced to give them up ; but when they can 
come together as brethren of the same family, 
and walk together in love, they have nothing 
to prevent them from seeking after the truth. 
They do not then feel like men who are 
pledged to defend any little denominational 
peculiarity, but like honest and humble en- 
quirers after the will of their Heavenly 



ESTCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 247 

Father. Christians are all agreed while they 
keep within the range of what the Bible 
clearly teaches ; but when they build theories 
upon the construction of isolated and doubtful 
passages, or upon their own interpretation of 
some little word, which may be differently 
interpreted, or upon the traditions of the 
Fathers, then they come in conflict with each 
other, and exclude each other from Christian 
fellowship. I do not believe that there is a 
single peculiarity of one of the five evangelical 
denominations, that is clearly taught in the 
Holy Scriptures. Let each strike out of their 
creeds everything thafc is not so taught, and 
there would be but one denomination. The 
Bible clearly requires us to be baptized with 
water in the name of the three divine persons. 
In this we are all agreed ; but because the 
Bible does not require us to be sprinkled, or 
dipped, or to have the water poured upon us, 
or to be marked with the sign of the Cross ; 
we differ in our judgment as to the manner in 
which it should be applied. The Baptists 
believe that because the primary classical 
meaning of the Greek word which we Angli- 
cise baptism, is to immer.se ; and because 



248 estcidents est a pastok's life. 

Christ was baptized in Jordan, and Philip and 
the Eunuch went down into the water, we 
should be immersed. The other evangelical 
denominations believe, that as the Greek word 
is used by classical authors for other applica- 
tions of water besides immersion, and as it is 
used in the New Testament for the partial 
application of water, and as it cannot be cer- 
tainly proved that it is ever used there for im- 
mersion, and as it is said that the effusion of 
the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood, 
agree with the application of the water, sprink- 
ling is the most appropriate mode. Why can 
we not in this case agree that each may have 
the water applied in the manner which he 
deems most Scriptural, without being separated 
into different denominations ? Surely the sin 
of schism is a greater evil than to have breth- 
ren walk together in love who differ a little in 
non-essential matters. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 249 



THE WOMAN WHO COULD NOT SUBMIT TO CHRIST. 

I found one evening in my meeting of in- 
quiry, a young lady who had been there often 
before, but seemed to make no progress in re- 
ligion. 

I said to her, " You have been here several 
times, have been conversed with and prayed 
for often, and what progress have you made W 

" O, sir ! I have made no progress at all. I 
have tried to be a Christian ; I have done all 
that I can." 

" And what have you done ?" 

" I have read the Bible, and tried to pray, 
but my feelings are all wrong, and I know not 
what to do more than I have." 

" I told you when I conversed with you last, 
that you must go to Christ, just as you was, 
and give yourself up to him, to be his for time 
and eternity." 

" I have tried often since that time, to sub- 
mit to Christ. I have gone to him, knelt down 
and told him I would be his, but when I arose 
from my knees I felt no better." 
11* 



250 INCIDENTS m a pastor's life. 

" And so when you felt no better, you gave 
up your professed submission, and tried to do 
something else." 

" Yes, I thought if Christ would accept of 
me, I should feel differently, and when I did 
not, I concluded I had not truly submitted 
myself into his hands." 

"Your conclusion was right; you did not 
submit yourself to Christ at all. You told 
him you would submit, but the condition in 
your own mind was, that he should fill you 
with joy and peace; and you think now, that 
if he had complied with your condition, you 
would have adhered to your promise ; but as 
he did not see fit to do this, you do not feel 
that you are his, but are seeking in other ways 
for comfort." 

" But did you not tell me that if I would 
submit myself to Christ, and take his yoke 
upon me, I should find rest to my soul ?" 

"Yes, but I did not tell you that if you 
made rest the condition of your submission, 
you would find it. The truth is, that a condi- 
tional submission is no submission, but an offer 
to compromise with Christ. You promised to 
be his, but your meaning was, if he would 



INCIDENTS EN" A PASTOR'S LIFE. 251 

make you happy you would be his. You want 
the joy and peace of submission before you 
submit." 

" How shall I know when I have submitted 
to Christ, if I do not feel differently from what 
I did before?" 

"You will feel differently, but while you 
make a change of feeling a condition, you re- 
quire the Saviour to come to your terms, in- 
stead of your coming to his." 

"I do not exactly comprehend you." 

" I will endeavor to be more plain. Jesus 
Christ says, c Take my yoke upon you, and 
learn of me, who am meek and lowly in heart ; 
and you shall find rest to your soul.' Now 
what is the condition of the blessing promised 
in this text ?" 

" Taking Christ's yoke upon us and learning 
of him." 

"Well, suppose you should say to Christ, 
Lord, if thou wilt give me rest for my soul, 
then I will take thy yoke upon me and learn 
of thee ; would that be complying with his con- 
dition?" 

1 No, certainly not. But I told the Lord I 
would submit." 



252 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

" But he saw that in your heart you made 
the peace of your soul the condition of such 
submission. You did not mean to submit 
yourself unconditionally into his hands, but 
said you would submit, to see if you would 
feel better. This is trifling with your Saviour 
instead of complying with his gracious offer." 

" I see where my mistake has been. O how 
deceitful my heart is ! It is indeed desperately 
wicked I" 

" You are engaged in a controversy with 
God. He is offering to forgive you and to 
receive you into his family as a child, if you 
will give up this controversy on your part ; 
but He will listen to no conditions ; you must 
come to him as a poor, lost sinner, and submit 
yourself to him ; not to be made happy, but 
to be dealt with according to his righteous 
will." 

" 1 feel that this is right, and think it is the 
purpose of my heart to give up all into his 
hands." 

We knelt at the Throne of Grace, and 
when we arose from prayer her mind was 
peaceful and happy. 

Awakened sinners often deceive themselves. 



incidents in a pastor's life. 253 

They suppose they are willing to comply with 
the requirements of the gospel ; but they are 
like soldiers in a fort, who are offering to sur- 
render upon certain conditions, but are not 
ready to yield unconditionally to their captors. 
They want hope before they submit ; but a 
true hope is the fruit of submission to Christ, 
and confidence in his promises. They want 
Christ to fulfill his promise, before they will 
comply with the condition upon which that 
promise is made. 



THE MAN WHO RIDICULED PRAYER. 

In a congregation with which the writer 
was intimately acquainted, the pastor, at the 
commencement of the winter amusements, 
preached a sermon against dancing. Though 
he was a man of great prudence, and treated 
the subject with great kindness and delicacy, 
yet a young physician, who was a prominent 
leader in the dissipations of the place, was 
greatly offended, and swore that he would 



254 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

dance every night that week, to show his pas- 
tor that the young people were not to be influ- 
enced by his officious meddling with their con- 
cerns. In accordance with this resolution he 
got his young associates together, and after 
kneeling down and offering a mock prayer, to 
ridicule his minister, he induced them to make 
arrangements to spend every night of that 
week in the ball-room. On Monday evening, 
the young people assembled to commence their 
week's dissipation, in accordance with the 
arrangements which had been made. Some 
time in the evening the doctor was sent for, to 
visit a sick man who lived a few miles out of 
the village. Though the night was extremely 
cold, he started on horseback, with his silk 
stockings and his dancing slippers on, to go 
and see his patient. Though he had no ap- 
pearance of being intoxicated, and was per- 
fectly acquainted with the road, yet he missed 
his way, and after wandering round in an un- 
travelled path, where the snow was deep, for 
some time, he was thrown from his horse, and 
the next morning was found near the road 
which he had left, crawling upon his hands 
and knees in the snow. He was taken home 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LU'E. 255 

and medical assistance immediately called in ; 
but his lower limbs were so badly frozen, that, 
after great suffering, he was obliged to have 
them amputated just below the knee-joints. 
He ultimately recovered his general health, 
but was obliged to walk on his knees the rest 
of his life. When he saw that he must be 
reduced to this sad necessity, he remarked to 
some friends that he had never bowed the 
knee to God or man, but he should now have 
to humble himself in the sight of both. 

I have seen him often since his recovery, 
going about the village in this painful posture, 
and could not avoid feeling, that he had been 
left to eat of the fruit of his own doings, and 
was a sad monument of the impotency of man, 
when he sets himself against the Almighty. 
From the day he resolved to dance six nights 
in succession, to grieve his pious minister for 
kindly warning the youth of his charge, of 
the dissipating tendencies of that amusement, 
he was forever unable to step to the sound of 
the viol ; and from the day on which he had 
impiously knelt to ridicule the prayer of his 
godly pastor, he had been doomed to go upon his 
bended knees to the close of his life. 



256 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

I would never rashly interpret the provi- 
dences of God, but I love to study them ; and 
when they speak as plain a language as they 
did in this case, I feel that we should be 
belying the Lord, to say " That it was not 
He." His providences, like his word, are de- 
signed for our instruction and admonition, and 
when we see him rebuking presumptious sins, 
by signally punishing them in this world, 
others should take warning that they fall not 
under the same condemnation. It is a fearful 
thing to disregard the monitions of those whom 
God has set to watch for our souls, and give 
us warning from him ; but when, in addition 
to this sin, we maliciously insult the Lord's 
messenger, and deride the very prayers which 
he is daily offering up for us, we ought to 
expect a severer punishment than that which 
falls upon ordinary transgressors. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LITE. 257 



THE INFLUENCE OF LITTLE CHILDREN UPON THEIR 
PARENTS. 

In preaching one evening in the city of 
Rochester, from Ezekiel xiv. 14 — " Though 
these three men, JSToah, Daniel, and Job, were 
in it, they should deliver but their own souls 
by their righteousness, saith the Lord," — I en- 
deavored to show, that the prayers of good 
men, when combined with Christian effort, are 
efficacious, by making it consistent for God to 
have mercy upon sinners — that the longer men 
sinned, and the more aggravated their trans- 
gressions were, the more prayer and the more 
Christian effort would be necessary, to render 
it consistent for God to have mercy upon them, 
and that they might go to such lengths in 
wickedness, that all the prayers and the Chris- 
tian efforts of the most devoted servants of 
Christ would be unavailing. 

In applying these truths to the different 
classes of hearers, I remarked : 

First, That while the text rolled a great 
weight of responsibility upon every child of 



258 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 

God, it gave great encouragement to Chris- 
tians. If the prayer and the corresponding 
effort, of God's people were necessary, to 
render it consistent for the Almighty to bear 
with sinners, and continue to strive with them 
by his Spirit ; and if the more hardened sin- 
ners became, and the longer they abused the 
grace of God, the more prayer and the more 
effort would be needed, to make it consistent 
for God to save ; then no individual Christian 
could know, but his prayers and his personal 
efforts, are all that is needed to render it con- 
sistent for God to save any particular sinner, 
or to pour out his Spirit and revive his work, 
in any particular place or nation, or through 
the world. 

Second, That if these things were so, the 
condition of the impenitent sinner was fearfully 
perilous, and his conduct in rejecting the offers 
of mercy, and grieving the Holy Spirit, was 
reckless in the extreme. Every day made 
more prayer and more Christian effort neces- 
sary to his salvation, and the time might 
speedily come, when Noah, Daniel, and Job, 
if they were on earth, could not by all that 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 259 

they could do, render it consistent for God to 
bear longer with him. 

At the close of my discourse, by the request 
of the pastor, I gave notice that if there were 
any impenitent persons in the congregation, 
who wished to converse with us on the subject 
of their own salvation, and to be made the 
special subjects of prayer, they might, after 
the benediction, occupy the seats next to the 
desk. 

A pious little girl, who had a very hardened 
father in the gallery, took encouragement from 
the discourse, to go in search of her parent, 
and while her heart was lifted up to God for 
his salvation, she threw her arms around 
his neck, and with streaming eyes, and a voice 
almost choked with sobs, entreated him to go 
down and ask Christians to pray for his dying 
soul. The hardened sinner was overcome, and 
in compliance with the entreaties of his daugh- 
ter, and under the strivings of the Holy Spirit, 
sent down in answer to prayer, he occupied 
the place pointed out for anxious and inquiring 
sinners, and went home that night with his 
child, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of 
God. 



260 incidents m a pastor's life. 

Christian reader, is it true that prayer for 
the salvation of sinners becomes efficacious by 
making it consistent for God to have mercy ? 

Is it true that the prayer and the correspon- 
dent efforts of a little child may sometimes be 
all that are needed, to make it consistent for a 
holy God to save a lost sinner, or pour out his 
Spirit upon a congregation or a nation ? This 
must be so. Prayer does not change the feel- 
ings of the Almighty towards ungodly men, 
but merely renders it consistent for him to do 
what his benevolent heart always disposed him 
to, to have mercy upon dying men. The tears 
of the Lamb of God, when he wept over Jeru- 
salem, prove incontestibly that he does not need 
our prayers to move him ; but that his feelings 
are constantly flowing out in pity to our ruined 
race, and he will save to the uttermost, where 
it is consistent with the holiness of his charac- 
ter, and the interests of his moral empire. Pie 
is always disposed to build up Zion, and to 
save sinful men, but he must be sought unto 
by his children, to make it consistent for him 
to do it for them. He heard the prayers of 
Job for his three friends, he pardoned Israel 
often, in answer to the prayer of Moses, and 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOB's LITE. 261 

ten righteous men would have saved Sodom 
from destruction. When Zion travails she 
shall bring forth, because the prayers of his 
people remove obstacles out of the way of his 
showing mercy. How crushing then is our 
responsibility ! and how great is our encourage- 
ment. The conversion of a sinner, the reforma- 
tion of a congregation, or even the salvation of 
a nation, may depend upon the prayer and the 
efforts of the weakest of Christ's people. We 
should never cease to do what we can for the 
impenitent around us, for our country, and the 
world. And we should never despair of the 
salvation of either while we have breath to 
pray. When we go to the throne of grace to 
pray for our impenitent friends, or for our con- 
gregation, or for our country, or the world, we 
should remember that there are other hearts 
beating in unison with ours, and other voices 
ascending up to heaven with the same peti- 
tions ; and that it may be that the scales are 
on the balance, and that our humble prayer 
will " Move the arm that moves the world." 

But while these things are true of Christian 
responsibility, and of Christian encouragement, 
what is the condition of the sinner, who is 



262 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 

trampling under his feet the Son of God, ac- 
counting the blood of the covenant an unholy- 
thing, and doing despite to the Spirit of Grace ! 
Is it true, impenitent reader, that you are con- 
stantly increasing the obstacles which have 
hitherto stood in the way of your salvation ? 
Is it true that every day, more prayer and 
more Christian effort will be necessary, to make 
it consistent for the Holy Spirit to continue to 
strive with you ? Is it true, if you go on in 
your present course the day is at hand, and 
the hour draws nigh, when the prayers of a 
Noah, a Daniel, and a Job, would fail to save 
you ? Yes, this is all true. It is true you are 
rapidly approaching a point where the infinite 
mercy of your compassionate Saviour cannot 
reach; where you will have nothing but a 
fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery in- 
dignation from the presence of the Lord. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 263 



THE SKEPTICAL PHYSICIAN. 

During the progress of a precious revival 
of religion in my congregation, I was sent for 
early one morning to visit a skeptical physi- 
cian. He had for some years been a regular 
attendant upon my preaching on the Sabbath, 
but like Gallio of old, " cared for none of 
these things." Though he did not profess him- 
self an infidel, he was skeptical in regard to 
the things of religion, and gave himself no 
trouble about them. He was present, and wit- 
nessed the dreadful struggle of an awakened 
infidel a few days previous, and had enjoyed 
no quiet rest from that time. When I entered 
his room, I found him walking the floor, wring- 
ing his hands, and uttering loud groans, like 
one in all the bitterness of despair. When he 
saw me he exclaimed, " Oh, I am lost ! I am 
lost !" He felt that he had sinned away his 
day of grace — that when Christ had called he 
had not regarded, and that when " fear was 
coming like desolation, and destruction like a 



264 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

whirlwind," though he called, the Saviour 
would not answer him. 

I told him that God was merciful, and that 
Christ invited sinners to come to him, and 
said, " He would in no wise cast them out." 

" Yes, his invitations have been sounding in 
my ears all my life, but I have hated instruc- 
tion, and my heart has despised reproof ; and 
now I have nothing but a fearful looking-for 
of judgment, and fiery indignation from the 
presence of the Lord." 

" You do injustice to the tender mercy and 
loving kindness of your Redeemer. He tells 
you that though your sins be as scarlet, and 
like crimson, his blood can make them white 
as snow, and as wool. He says, " Come unto 
me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and 
I will give you rest." 

"I feel that this is what aggravates my 
guilt, and makes my case so hopeless. Jesus, 
after dying for my sins, has been all my life 
long waiting to be gracious, and I have been 
grieving his Holy Spirit, and indulging in 
skepticism." 

" Your conduct has indeed been very wick- 
ed ; but you must not add to all your other 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 265 

sins that of resisting God's Spirit now, when 
He is convincing you of sin, and of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment. God is yet waiting to 
be gracious, and you ought to adore the riches 
of that grace, which, when you have sinned so 
long, and against so much light, can yet strive 
with you by his Holy Spirit to bring you to 
the Saviour." 

" Do you think the Spirit is yet striving 
with me ? and that there is yet hope for my 
guilty soul ?" 

" Certainly. If the Spirit had been with- 
drawn from you, and God had given you up, 
you would have remained stupid. If you 
perish it will be because you will not, now, 
come to Christ that you may have life. The 
Holy Ghost says, ' To-day if you will hear his 
voice harden not your heart.' " 

" Do you suppose that that text is suited to 
my case, and that I may consider it as address- 
ed to me ?" 

" It is addressed to all impenitent sinners, 
who live under the light of the gospel, and to 
you among the rest. It is my privilege and 
duty, as a minister of Christ, to offer you par- 
don and eternal life to-day, upon the terms of 
12 



266 

the gospel. As though God did "beseech you 
by me, I pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God." 

He became more composed, and seemed 
deeply interested in the offer of mercy, but 
was exceedingly oppressed by a sense of his 
guilt. 

After praying with him, and making such 
further suggesstions to him as I thought his 
case required, I left him, feeling that he was 
not far from the kingdom. 

In the course of the afternoon he indulged a 
hope in Christ, and became as happy as he 
had been miserable. 

How soon every form of infidelity will be 
dispelled, when a man gets a sight of his heart. 
TThen the Holy Ghost convinces men of sin 
they can no longer be satisfied with refuges of 
lies. They feel that they must have a Saviour, 
or fall under the curse of the Almighty. Infi- 
delity is a thing of the heart, resulting from 
the love of sin, and not from an honest, intel- 
lectual conviction. It is the fool's heart, and 
not the understanding, which says, " There is 
no God ;" and the Searcher of hearts informs 
us in the fourteenth Psalm, that, as a class, 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 267 

those who would like to have it so are corrupt, 
and that there is none among them that doeth 
good. I have been extensively acquainted 
with infidelity in most of its modifications, and 
I have always found a death-bed, and a revival 
of religion, the most powerful means of dispel- 
ling it from the mind. The cause of infidelity 
is a depraved heart, and the only cure that can 
be relied on is, the operation of the Holy 
Spirit in purifying that polluted fountain. 



PARTY POLITICS INIMICAL TO RELIGIOUS FEELING. 

Among the members of my congregation 
was an amiable and talented lawyer, who came 
among us to pursue his professional business. 
His wife was hopefully converted, and became 
a member of the church under my care, soon 
after they became members of my congrega- 
tion ; but the husband was too deeply engaged 
in party politics to bestow much time upon the 
interests of his soul. For years after he re- 
moved into our place, I labored much with 



268 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LITE. 

him, and oftentimes found him very tender on 
the subject of religion, and hoped that soon 
he would be a subject of renewing grace ; but 
as he became more prominent, as a party- 
leader, his conscience became less tender ; and 
he began to find fault with the lives of profess- 
ing Christians, and would sometimes mention 
objections, which infidels have brought against 
the Christian system. On one occasion, when 
we were alone in his library, I told him that I 
had noticed for some time past, that his inte- 
rest on the subject of religion was declining, 
and that he manifested more of a disposition 
to cavil and find fault than formerly ; that it 
was evident to me that his political relations 
and his professional engagements, were crowd- 
ing out the more important subject of a pre- 
paration for the Judgment. 

He said that he was aware that his attention 
to his worldly business occupied most of his 
thoughts, and that he did not feel as much 
concern about his spiritual interests as he once 
did. 

I warned him of his guilt, and told him that 
when men who had as much light on the sub- 
ject of religion as he had, refused to receive 



INCrDENTS EST A PASTOK's LIFE. 269 

the love of the truth, that they might be 
saved, God sometimes sent them strong delu- 
sions, that they might believe a lie and perish. 

From that time he was less accessible, and I 
had no further personal conversation with him 
while he remained an inhabitant of our place. 

About two years after this interview, I visit- 
ed him in the place where he had gone to 
reside, and soon found that the renewal of our 
acquaintance brought back to my heart my 
former solicitude for his salvation. After the 
family had retired for the night, I told, him 
that though our intercourse with each other 
had been interrupted by his removal, yet my 
desire for his salvation was as strong as ever, 
and I wanted him to give immediate attention 
to his eternal interests. 

He appeared to be affected, and told me 
that for the last few months he had been more 
anxious about himself; but the infidel objec- 
tions which he once sought after, to quiet his 
conscience, would now come unbidden, and in- 
trude themselves upon his mind whenever he 
read the Bible, or thought seriously on the 
subject of religion. He did not mean to en- 
tertain them, but they would be present with 



270 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

him, and rendered it almost impossible to keep 
his mind on the subject of his salvation. 

I labored affectionately with him to show 
him that he was eating the fruit of his own 
doings, and that he must breast the obstacles 
which he had thrown in his own way, and cast 
himself upon the mercy of Christ or perish. 

When I parted with him I put in his hands 
a copy of Nelson's " Cause and Cure of Infi- 
delity." 

A few months afterwards he professed a 
hope in Christ, and united with the Presbyte- 
rian church. He lived for about two years 
after he made a public profession of religion, 
and gave evidence, by his life, that he was a 
new creature. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 271 



THE DIFFICULTIES WHICH THE EARLY MINISTERS IN 
WESTERN NEW YORK HAVE HAD TO ENCOUNTER, 
AND THE TRUE CHARACTER OF WESTERN REVI- 
VALS NOT UNDERSTOOD BY OUR EASTERN BRETH- 
REN. 

In 1832 as I was travelling on a packet-boat 
on the Erie canal, I found myself in company 
with a very worthy old minister from the State 
of Connecticut. While we were engaged in 
pleasant conversation, respecting the rapid 
increase of Christian churches in the region 
through which we were passing, within a few 
years preceding, the old minister said with a 
sigh: 

"It is painful to contemplate the blighting 
influence of those religious excitements which 
have passed over this region within a short 
period." 

" Do you mean," said I, " those revivals 
which have prevailed in Western New York 
between 1825 and 1831 ?" 

" I would not include them all, but I have 
supposed that the most of them were conducted 
in such a manner as to weaken the bands of 



272 INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 

religious order, and introduce insubordination 
and confusion in the churches where they pre- 
vailed." 

I said, " You must pardon me, sir, for differ- 
ing with you on this subject. I have been inti- 
mately acquainted with Western New York for 
more than thirty years, and I am satisfied that 
those excitements of which you speak, were 
precious revivals of pure and undefiled reli- 
gion, and that the churches in Western New 
York were never in a more healthy state than 
they are at this moment." 

He looked at me with manifest surprise, 
and said, " Is it not a fact that churches are 
divided, and that pastors are being unsettled, 
and their places filled with temporary sup- 
plies?" 

"There is more of this among us than we 
could wish, but not as much in proportion to 
the number of churches, as there was ten years 
ago. We are making as rapid progress in 
steady habits, and in religious order, as could 
reasonably be expected in our circumstances." 

"I am glad if it is indeed so, but I had 
thought it was quite otherwise." 

" Will you be good enough to tell me, how 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 2*73 

many of your parishioners, you think, do not 
live where their fathers did V 

After a little reflection, he replied, " There 
are not many who do not occupy the places of 
their parents." 

" How many have you who live where their 
grand-parents did?" 

" Quite a number." 

" If while you are from home the homoge- 
neous population should be removed, and their 
places filled by men from the four quarters of 
the earth, who should be thrown promiscously 
together ; how long would it take to make 
them the harmonious, steady, and orderly peo- 
ple that you now have V! 

" O, it would take a great while." 

" Well, sir, the towns in Western New York 
were settled with very much such a heteroge- 
neous population as I have proposed to put 
into your parish. My own congregation was 
made up, when I came among them, of men 
from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Germany, 
Ireland, Scotland, New York, and a few from 
different New England States. Now is it won- 
derful that there should be occasional disputes, 
and that the pastoral office should have less 
12* 



274 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK'S LIFE. 

permanency attached to it, in such a popula- 
tion, than in the land of steady habits ?" 

" I confess I have never thought of the sub- 
ject in that light. There certainly should be 
a great allowance made for such a heteroge- 
neous population." 

The time had now arrived for the berths to 
be made, and as I left the boat early the next 
morning, we had no opportunity to renew our 
conversation, and I have not met with the good 
brother since, except once in a large assem- 

My. 

I have published this incident for the pur- 
pose of showing how little our eastern brethren 
know of the difficulties with which the pioneer 
ministers have had to contend, in making our 
western wilderness bud and blossom as it does 
at the present day ; and for the further pur- 
pose of bearing my testimony to the perma- 
nently blessed influences of those precious out- 
pourings of the Spirit of God, which were 
enjoyed in our region of country during the 
period alluded to in the preceding conversa- 
tion; and which I am constrained to believe 
have been generally misrepresented by good 
men, who become prejudiced against some of 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 275 

the agents who were used by the Almighty in 
the promotion of these works of grace. 

It is impossible for a man who has spent his 
life in the land of steady habits, as New Eng- 
land has long been called, to form a correct 
idea of the moral condition of Western New 
York fifty years ago. "When the writer came 
into this region in 1800, it was, with a very 
few exceptions, one wide-spread moral desola- 
tion. In the entire district north of the Penn- 
sylvania line, and west of Oneida county, there 
were but three settled Presbyterian ministers. 
The residue of the country was missionary 
ground. This destitution of the Lord's insti- 
tuted means, for restraining the corruptions of 
the human heart, and reforming society, pro- 
duced its natural fruits. The good seed which 
was, at long intervals, sown by a few godly 
missionaries, generally fell by the way side, or 
where it had no depth of earth, or among 
thorns, and was unfruitful ; while the tares 
which the enemy was continually sowing, fall- 
ing in a more congenial soil, brought forth its 
hundred fold. 

I spent the first twelve years, after coming 
into the country, in the study, and the practice 



276 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LITE. 

of the legal profession, in one of those thriving 
and beautiful villages, which ornamented the 
banks of the Susquehanna and the Tioga 
rivers, and as I was in the habit of attending the 
courts in the counties of Tioga, Broome, Steu- 
ben, Seneca, and Alleghany, and occasionally 
in Ontario and Cayuga, I had a good opportu- 
nity of knowing what the state of society was. 
The use of intoxicating drinks was almost as 
universal as the use of bread, and drunkenness 
was so common, that occasional intoxication 
brought no disgrace upon the inebriate. In 
the village where I resided, it was common in 
the fall and winter for the most respectable 
inhabitants to meet at each other's houses, five 
nights in the week, to play cards and drink hot 
punch. At those meetings they would usually 
remain together until eleven or twelve o'clock, 
and often till two or three in the morning. 

In addition to this every-day habit of meet- 
ing to drink at each other's houses, there were 
frequent occasions when the men would get 
together without their wives, and with a very 
few exceptions would get what we should now 
call drunk. I have seen, during the time to 
which I have alluded, a first judge of a county, 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 2Y7 

a state senator, who was at that time one of 
our most distinguished lawyers, the high sheriff, 
his deputy, many of the leading merchants, 
and a justice of the peace, all so much intoxi- 
cated that they were not fit to transact busi- 
ness, and many of them unable to walk with- 
out staggering. Nor was the village in which 
I resided singular in this respect ; most of the 
neighboring villages had fallen into habits like 
our own. Now these men were none of them 
abandoned drunkards. On the contrary, they 
were sober men, when about their business, 
and despised the street drunkard, as much as 
any men could do. They merely yielded to 
the fashion of the country, and when that 
fashion passed away, most of them became 
habitually sober men, though some died drunk- 
ards. 

The first check given to these dreadful 
habits, was by the introduction of the stated 
preaching of the gospel. As ministers became 
settled in our large villages, intern perance, in 
these dreadful forms, became confined to a 
comparative few, who were too far gone to be 
reclaimed. But habitual and excessive drink- 
ing still continued to be fearfully common 



278 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

through tlie whole country, for a long time 
after respectable men became ashamed of the 
habits to which I have alluded. 

It may seem incredible to men who have 
always lived in well-regulated society, that 
such a state of things could exist among civi- 
lized people, but I speak only of the things 
which I have seen, and testify only to what I 
know to have been the state of society in 
what now constitutes the beautiful and orderly 
congregations of Central and "Western New 
York. 

And what has been the instrumentality 
which the Almighty has employed in bringing 
about this wonderful change ? It was the glo- 
rious gospel of the blessed God, preached in 
simplicity, and with fidelity, by the gospel 
ministry. Such godly missionaries as Bushnell 
and Williston, laid the foundation of a reli- 
gious reformation in Western New York, by 
awakening the slumbering graces of a few 
Christians, who were scattered up and down 
in the land, and organizing them into churches, 
which were by degrees supplied with pastors, 
and occasional supplies, who, by preaching the 
truth in love, amid reproach, and persecu- 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 279 

tion, and poverty, lengthened the cords and 
strengthened the stakes of Zion. They went 
forth weeping, bearing the precious seed, but 
according to the promise, they were permitted 
to come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves 
with them. In answer to the prayers of these 
pioneers, and of their little trembling flocks, 
which were offered up with much fasting, and 
with many tears, the Holy Spirit came down, 
and our congregations were blessed with revi- 
vals of religion. At first, these mercy drops 
were few and far between, but in 1825, they 
became more general and more powerful, and 
multitudes of new churches were constituted, 
and the old ones were strengthened and built 
up in their most holy faith. 

But as Satan would have it, some of the 
brethren among us, from what motives I will 
not undertake to decide, made such represen- 
tations, to some good ministers at the east, as 
prejudiced their minds against the men whom 
the Lord was employing to carry forward his 
work, and those churches among us which had 
been most favored by these outpourings, were 
represented as having been burnt over by un- 
holy fire, and it was predicted that good men 



280 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOPv's LIFE. 

would mourn for years the deleterious influ- 
ence of those excitements. It was in this way 
that our eastern brethren, some of them, be- 
came prejudiced against what were called west- 
ern revivals, and many became afraid of any 
excitement on religious subjects. It was to be 
expected that in those powerful outpourings of 
the Holy Spirit, when an entire congregation 
would be either agonizing in prayer, or trem- 
bling under a sense of the divine displeasure, 
some things would take place which sober 
piety would not approve, and which the care- 
less looker-on might make a subject of ill-na- 
tured remarks ; but as a general thing those 
revivals with which the writer was personally 
acquainted, were conducted with as much pru- 
dence, and presented as few objectionable 
features as could be expected, when we con- 
sider the imperfection of human instrumen- 
tality. 

It is true, that there were some rash and 
inexperienced young men, who, like the seven 
sons, Sceva, attempted to imitate Mr. Finney, 
and other successful ministers, and who, as is 
common of imitators, getting hold of little but 
the faults of those whom they intended to copy, 



INCIDENTS LN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 281 

did some mischief, but with all the faults of 
those men, and with all the mistakes which 
were made by good ministers, it is still true 
that the period which was most complained of, 
in some quarters, was the most blessed season 
that Western New York ever enjoyed. The 
men who were the subjects of those revivals 
were not exclusively the ignorant, the weak, 
and the excitable ; but among them were an 
unusually large proportion of educated and 
talented men. Among the converts of those 
days were many who belonged to the learned 
professions. 

The prediction which was made, that the 
churches would mourn over these seasons, has 
been so far from being fulfilled that I have 
never known a single chnrch, which was a par- 
taker of those outpourings of the Spirit, that 
did not pray for their return. We speak of 
them as of the days of the right hand of the 
Lord, and while we praise him for his past 
kindness, we ardently pray that the world at 
large may soon be the partaker of such seasons 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 
I should not have alluded to the prejudices 
which prevailed, and the things which were 



282 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR 7 S LIFE. 

written against what were called " western 
revivals" if I had not felt that they must form 
a chapter in the history of the Church in our 
land, which those who come after us will peruse 
with intense interest, and that the honor of 
religion required that every page should be 
examined and corrected by men who can 
speak of what they know, and testify to what 
they have seen of the good works of the Lord. 
That class of men are rapidly passing away, 
and the -time is near at hand when nothing 
can be known of those seasons of refreshing, 
but what will have been handed down from 
father to son, except such things as may be 
found on the printed page. Then it would 
not be strange if the enemies of our holy reli- 
gion should republish what some good men 
who lived at a distance from us, through a 
want of correct information, have written, to 
prejudice the public mind against the genuine- 
ness of those revivals, and against the means 
which were blessed of God to the salvation of 
many souls. To guard against such a state of 
things, I have in this volume given a brief 
narrative of some of the revivals with which 
I have been personally acquainted, and have 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE'S LIFE. 283 

"borne my testimony to their general character 
and to their fruits. 



DYING GRACE ON A DYING BED. 

Christians oftentimes distress themselves 
by indulging fears that they may dishonor 
Christ in the hour of death. This was the 
case with a lovely Christian woman belonging 
to my church. She was an active and exem- 
plary Christian in all the relations of life, but 
was distressed with occasional fears that when 
the hour should come she should be afraid 
to die, and should in that way dishonor her 
Saviour. She was not so much afraid to be 
dead as she was afraid to die. The king of 
terrors was always presented to her mind in a 
frightful form. She seemed to enjoy daily 
communion with Christ, but was often borne 
down with a sense of her own vileness, and 
would then look to her death-bed with fear 
and trembling. 

At the age of about thirty-five she was. 



284 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

taken suddenly ill, and about midnight it be- 
came evident that her departure was nigh at 
hand. I was called from my bed to visit her, 
and when I entered her room found her hus- 
band and children weeping around her. As 
soon as she saw me she extended her hand, 
and calling me by the endearing name of 
father, she said, " The hour that I have 
so long dreaded has come ; my days are num- 
bered and finished ; but O, how different a 
place a death-bed is from what I have always 
apprehended. You know, my dear pastor, 
that I have suffered much on this account. I 
thought there was something terrible in death, 
but now that I am dying it is disarmed of all 
its terrors." 

u Are you willing to leave your husband and 
your little children V 

" O, yes, I can leave them with Christ. 
He will take care of them." 

" And have you no fears now about the 
safety of your soul !" 

" JSTot one. Though I am a poor, unworthy 
sinner, I can trust my soul in the hands of him 
who died for me that I might live." 

" Are you much distressed in body ?" 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 285 

" Not much ; my Saviour is very kind to me 
in not letting me suffer." 

" Is Jesus present with you as he never was 
before V 

" O, yes ; I can see him by faith ; this is the 
happiest moment of my life ; I shall soon be 
with him whom my soul loveth." 

She then drew me close to her and gave me 
some messages to her children, to deliver after 
she was laid in the grave ; and after taking 
leave of her husband, and embracing her little 
ones, gently fell asleep. 

The children, I hope, have all since her 
death been converted to Christ. 

We have the promise of our blessed Saviour 
that, as our day is so shall our strength be. 
He has told us that when we walk through 
the valley of the shadow of death, we need 
fear no evil, because his rod and his staff will 
sustain us. If for us to live is Christ, to die 
will be gain; and we should not distress our- 
selves about dying, but should trust our souls 
and our bodies in the hands of him who hath 
said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
thee." Dying grace will be given to the 
devout child of God in the dying hour. 



286 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



ABUSED BY A UNIVERSALIST. 

In the congregation where I spent the first 
three years of my ministry there was a very 
influential and popular physician who was a 
bitter Universalist. Though he was a man 
of a violent and ungoverned temper, he had 
so much self-respect and regard for the feel- 
ings of the community, that he treated me for 
some time with kindness and respect. He 
used generally to attend my meeting once on 
the Sabbath, though whenever the future pun- 
ishment of the wicked was spoken of, he would 
manifest his feelings, by changing color from an 
ashy paleness to a deep red. On one Monday 
morning, after he had been to hear me on the 
Sabbath, I called on him at his house, and 
after the usual salutations, said to him, " "Well, 
Doctor, how did you like our minister yester- 
day V He answered, with some little embar- 
rassment, " People say that if the doctrine of 
predestination is true, we all do what it was 
predetermined we should do, and if so, we 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 287 

cannot be to blame, and a holy God will not 
punish us." 

" You, certainly, Doctor, can see the base- 
lessness of that objection. If God has predes- 
tinated anything he has predestinated men to 
be free, accountable creatures, to have the 
gospel preached to them, and if they will not 
repent and believe, to be damned." 

" How can we repent and believe, if God 
has fore-ordained that we should be damned V 

" He has fore-ordained that we should be 
damned if we do not repent and believe, and 
his fore-ordination does not destroy our liberty 
but secures it, for it is a part of his eternal 
purpose that we should be free, and if we 
perish, it will be because we wilfully reject the 
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the condemnation, 
that light has come into the world, and men 
loved darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds were evil." 

" But is it not according to your doctrine 
that a part of the human family are made to be 
saved, and will be saved, and a part are made 
to be lost, and will be lost, let them do what 
they will P 

"I am surprised, my dear sir, that you 



288 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

should ask that question, after hearing me 
preach as long as you have. God everywhere 
tell us in his word, that none can be saved but 
those who repent and believe, and that none 
perish but those who reject the council of God 
against their own souls. In the xxxiii. of Eze- 
kiel, he says, ' He has no pleasure in the 
death of the wicked ; but that they should 
turn from their wicked ways and live ; and on 
the ground of his own kind feelings towards 
them, exhorts them to turn from their evil 
ways, and asks them why they will die.' Now 
if God made the wicked on purpose to damn 
them, would he use such language respecting 
them P 

" Well, I cannot reconcile predestination 
and future punishment with the goodness of 
God." 

" What if you cannot \ Will you reject 
truths that God has clearly revealed in his 
Word, because you cannot see how they are 
consistent with each other V 

" But you say I must be born again before I 
can see the kingdom of God. If being born 
again is the condition of my salvation, and the 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 289 

new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit, how 
am I to blame, or how can I be saved V f 

" Regeneration is not the condition of your 
salvation, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
If you will believe, the word of God is pledged 
that you shall be saved." 

" Why, then, are we told that we must be 
born again before we can see the kingdom of 
God V 

" Because the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, and sinners will not come to Jesus Christ 
that they might have life, until they are made 
willing by the Holy Ghost. You are com- 
manded to make to yourself a new heart and 
a new spirit, and it is because you will not do 
what you have all the faculties to do, and what 
must be done if you are saved, that the 
agency of the Spirit is necessary." 

" I believe that Christ died for all, and that 
all will be saved." 

" We are clearly taught in the word of God 
that the blessed Saviour tasted death for every 
man — that he is the propitiation for our sins, 
and not for ours only, but for the sins of the 
whole world, but we are no where taught that 
all men will be saved." 
13 



290 INCIDENTS IK A PASTORS LIFE. 

" Do not you and all good men pray that 
all might be saved ? and would you not, if you 
could, have all men saved ? and as God is more 
kind and benevolent than any of us, and as he 
can save all, will he not save the whole human 
family V 

" This is a very common argument with men 
of your belief, but it proves rather too much. 
You and I, and almost all men, are afflicted to 
see any of our fellow beings suffer pain in this 
world, and we desire to relieve them, and if 
we could help it no man would be left to suffer 
pain. Now God is better than we are, and 
more kind and benevolent, and he can prevent 
pain, but does this prove that there is no pain 
in the world ?" 

" No ; men suffer pain here, but we are 
talking about eternal pain." 

" I know that ; but you can see that your 
argument proves that there is no pain in this 
world, just as clearly as it does that there will 
be none in the world to come." 

" Well, I believe I must give up that argu- 
ment — it does prove too much." 

" Now, I want you, Doctor, candidly to tell 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 291 

me whether you do believe that the Scriptures 
teach us that all men will be saved." 

" Certainly I do. Paul says, • as in Adam 
all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive.' " 

" But are you not aware that the apostle is 
here speaking of the death and resurrection of 
the body, and not of the salvation of the soul ? 
This is the way Universalists use the Scrip- 
tures : they quote garbled passages, and pas- 
sages which relate to other subjects, and not 
those passages where the duration of the pun- 
ishment of the wicked is the subject of discus- 
sion. The whole Bible, in its doctrines, in its 
history, in its promises, and in its threatenings, 
is directly opposed to your theory, and would 
be a contradictory book if Universalism was 
true." 

" It seems to me that we must assume the 
salvation of all, to make it a consistent book V 

" Well, let us examine it a little. You say 
that all men will go to heaven as soon as they 
die. Now, according to this theory, God was 
so angry with the inhabitants of the old 
world that he drove them all to heaven by the 
flood, but because Noah was not as wicked as 
the rest, he was not permitted to go to that 



292 INCIDENTS IN A PAST0K 7 S LIFE. 

place of happiness for hundreds of years after- 
wards. So again, the Bible teaches us that 
the sin of Sodom was so great that God car- 
ried them to heaven, not in a fiery chariot, but 
in a storm of fire and brimstone ; but Lot was 
a righteous man, and he was not permitted to 
go, and if there had been nine more righteous 
men there, they would have kept the Sodom- 
ites all out of heaven." 

A short time afterwards his oldest daughter 
was converted, and he became more unamia- 
ble and restive, and meeting me one day in 
the street, he charged me with having destroy- 
ed the peace and harmony of his family, and 
robbed him of all domestic enjoyment ; and 
forbade me ever entering his house again while 
I remained in the place. I told him it was not 
I, but his own wicked heart, and his unkind 
conduct that destroyed the harmony of his 
family, and that as to my coming to his house, 
as he had forbidden me, I had only to wipe off 
the dust from my feet as a testimony against 
him. He left me in a great rage, and I did 
did not see him again for several weeks. 

The next time I met him he cordially in- 
vited me to his house. He had given up his 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LIFE. 293 

TJniversalism, and was a changed man. He 
soon after united with the church, and was, to 
the day of his death, my warm and unwaver- 
ing friend. 



THE MAN WHO EXPECTED TO BE CONVERTED. 

Among the members of my congregation 
was a man of about thirty-five, who was the 
child of pious parents, and was blessed with a 
godly companion. He had been brought up 
in the fear of the Lord, and was very exem- 
plary in his outward conduct ; but was fond 
of lively company, and appeared wholly un- 
concerned about his spiritual condition. He 
knew he was not prepared to die, but felt, that 
he was so free from outward faults, that the 
Lord would not leave him to perish, but would, 
at some time, give him a new heart. 

I labored long with him, as I had opportu- 
nity, to bring him to a sense of his lost condi- 
tion, but apparently made little or no impres- 
sion upon his mind. At one time I came into 



294 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LITE. 

his family, and setting down by his side, I said 
to him, " My friend, you are, so far as I have 
been able to discover, exemplary in your out- 
ward deportment ; you are not guilty of any 
outward violation of the Sabbath, use no pro- 
fane language, defraud no one, and injure no 
one. You are regular in your attendance on 
the services of the sanctuary, and on all the 
ordinary means of grace. For these things 
you are entitled to, and do receive, the applause 
of your fellow men ; but with all this amiable 
deportment, you are a sinner in the sight of 
God, and your sins of omission are enough to 
damn you, and will do so, unless you repent. 
You do not pray in your family; you do not 
acknowledge the hand of the Lord in the 
numerous blessings by which you are sur- 
rounded ; you do not confess Christ before men, 
as your Saviour, nor pretend to make it the 
business of your life to serve and please him." 
He made no reply to this appeal, but has since 
told me, that this was the first time he had 
ever felt any conviction of sin. He now began 
to see that there were sins of omission, as well 
as of commission, and that the penalty of 
God's law was just as severe against duties 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 295 

neglected, as against any other class of sins. 
From this time he began to be more serious, 
though he kept his feelings from his pastor for 
a considerable time afterwards. The next 
conversation that I had with him, so far as I 
now remember, I pressed upon him again, the 
guilt of this class of sins, endeavored to show 
him his lost condition, and urged him to be- 
come a follower of Christ. I told him it was 
as easy then as it ever would be ; that his sins 
were constantly accumulating, while he was 
grieving the Holy Spirit, and multiplying ob- 
stacles to his own salvation. He was more 
deeply serious than I had ever seen him, and 
when I urged him to submit to Christ, and put 
his trust in him, he felt the obligation he was 
under to do so, and made up his mind that he 
would then terminate his rebellion, by giving 
himself up to his Saviour, but at the moment 
when he was about to yield, he says, that a 
suggestion was made to his mind so strong that 
it seemed as if some one actually said to him, 
" Not now, another time will do as well 11 This 
suggestion, which was undoubtedly from Satan, 
threw him entirely from his purpose, and he 
went for days, struggling against the strivings 



296 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE's LITE. 

of the Holy Spirit. In about two weeks, if I 
recollect right; he bowed his neck to the yoke 
of the Redeemer, and has now for many years 
been a consistent member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

"When we charge the impenitent with their 
sins, it is important that we should do it in 
such a manner as to carry their conscience 
along with us, and make them feel the truth 
of our words. I might have preached the 
general doctrine of total depravity to this man 
all my life, and his outward upright deport- 
ment would have served as a shield to keep 
off the arrows of conviction. He could plead 
as virtues, the crimes which he did not commit, 
and bless himself that he was not like other 
men, guilty of adultery, Sabbath breaking, 
profaning the name of God, and defrauding his 
fellow men ; but when he was pointed to the 
sins of omission, and the duties which God re- 
quired, and he had neglected, " The command- 
ment came and sin revived and he died." It 
is worthy of observation that in the account 
the Saviour has given us of the day of judg- 
ment, the impenitent are not condemned for 
what they have done, but for what they have 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 29 T 

not done. The Judge does not say, depart from 
me, ye cursed, because ye were profane, because 
ye were Sabbath breakers, or because ye were 
liars, or fornicators, or murderers ; but because 
ye did not do what I had required of you. So 
in the threatenings of the Gospel, it is, " He 
that believeth not shall be damned," and " he 
that does not confess me before men, him will 
not I confess before my Father." " God look- 
eth upon the heart," and if that is not given 
to Christ, whatever we may do or wherever 
we may go, we are in a state of " condemna- 
tion and death." 

We may learn, too, from this incident, the 
danger of the awakened sinner, listening to 
any suggestions from the adversary, to put off 
the work of to-day to a future period. " Not 
now," whispered into the ear, by the adversary, 
when the sinner was on the point of giving 
all up to Christ, has ruined many souls. " Re- 
sist the devil and he will flee from you," but 
listen to him, and he will envelope you more 
and more in his serpent folds. It was by par- 
leying with that old serpent, the devil, that our 
mother Eve opened the door for the destruc- 
tion of the human race. 
13* 



298 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



"MAN DEVISETH HIS WAYS, BUT THE LORD 
DIRECTETH HIS STEPS." 

When the writer was first licensed to preach 
the gospel, he had an invitation to become the 
pastor of a pleasant church in a beautiful vil- 
lage in "Western New York. He had a be- 
loved and respected clerical friend, who had 
retired from the ministry, living in the place, 
and made up his mind to accept the invitation. 
He started on horseback to visit the congrega- 
tion, but on the first day's journey his horse 
calked himself, and became so lame that he 
was obliged to turn back to get another horse. 
This made it too late in the week for him to 
reach the place before the Sabbath, and he 
made up his mind not to start again till the 
next week. There was a little village twenty 
miles from his residence, on the edge of Penn- 
sylvania, where there was no church, and no 
preaching, except that of two Universal minis- 
ters who lived in the place ; and there had not 
been a sermon preached there by a Presbyte- 
rian or Congregational minister for more than 



299 



three years. The missionaries all shunned the 
place, because the population was so invete- 
rately Universal that they would not hear 
them. As he had been called there, while at 
the bar, to try an important ejectment cause, 
he thought that the novelty of hearing a law- 
yer preach would bring the people out to 
hear him, and resolved to spend his unappro- 
priated Sabbath in that place. He went ac- 
cordingly, and having no expectation that he 
would get them out more than once, prepared 
himself to show them, in a single discourse, 
the total depravity of the human heart, the 
remedy which God had provided for fallen 
man, and the certainty of the eternal perdition 
of those who did not avail themselves of that 
provision. The congregation, as he expected, 
was large, and the Lord rolled the love of 
souls into his bosom, and he preached under 
the solemn impression that the eternal life or 
the eternal death of the great portion of that 
congregation might depend, under God, upon 
that single sermon. The people were attentive, 
and knowing, as he did, that the Universal 
ministers would soon catch away the good 
seed, if it did not take deep root in the heart. 



300 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOE 7 S LIFE. 

lie felt that everything depended on the influ- 
ences of the Holy Ghost. 

In the afternoon the congregation was still 
more crowded and solemn, and the preacher 
dwelt much upon the unwillingness of sinners 
to come to Christ, and the necessity of their 
being born again. 

In the evening the house was again crowded 
and solemn, and some were affected even to 
tears, and during the last singing he made up 
his mind to spend one more Sabbath in that 
wicked place. 

The next Lord's day there were evident 
tokens of the divine presence. One young lady 
and a little girl of twelve years old, were in- 
dulging a hope, and a very hardened man, who 
had been a Universalist, was under deep con- 
viction of sin. Though his desire was strong 
to go to the place to which he had been in- 
vited, he felt constrained, by the indications of 
providence, to decline that invitation, and con- 
tinue to labor where the Lord had set him 
at work. 

Here he continued to labor, and the Lord 
continued to bless his efforts for the salvation 
of that people, and a little church of thirty-one 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIPE. 301 

members was in a few weeks gathered from 
among those who had been taught from their 
youth to believe that all men would be saved. 

Though the church was too poor to think of 
supporting a pastor, and all who were not con- 
verted were too much opposed to the truth to 
render them much assistance, he continued to 
labor in that place for three years, partly sup- 
porting himself, and partly supported by the 
Hampshire and Connecticut missionary socie- 
ties. 

When he left that place he was directed by 
the providence of God to the village of Ithaca, 
where he has labored for more than thirty 
years. 

How strikingly the Scripture, which I have 
placed at the head of this incident, was veri- 
fied in this case. I had devised my way, and 
had laid all my plans to commence my minis- 
try in an established congregation, where' my 
family would be supported, and where I could 
have the advise and support of an old and ex- 
perienced servant of Christ, and where there 
would be a fair prospect of permanency in the 
pastoral relation ; but the Almighty had de- 
termined otherwise, and by an event #s incon- 



302 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 

siderable as the calking of my horse, I was 
sent to commence my labors among Universal- 
ists and infidels, where it might be said, with 
great truth, Satan 1 s seat was. The change 
which was thus made in the commencement of 
my ministerial labors has had an important 
influence upon the formation of my ministerial 
character, and has given an entirely differ- 
ent direction to my whole ministerial course. 
Surely, while " man deviseth his ways the 
Lord directeth his steps." 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 303 



THE AWAKENED GIRL AND THE PHEASANT. 

An intelligent young lady who lived in the 
suburbs of our village, and was an attendant 
upon my ministry, became deeply anxious 
about the salvation of her own soul. She 
saw that she was a lost sinner, and was in 
imminent danger of going down to hell ; but 
could not put her trust in Christ, until she 
could have some manifestation of her accept- 
ance with God. She remained in this state 
of mind for a long time, waiting for something 
upon which she might build a hope, before she 
exercised repentance towards God, or faith in 
the blood of the Redeemer. A circumstance 
at last arrived to favor the self-deception for 
which she had been seeking. A pheasant, 
probably pursued by a hawk, flew into her 
window, lit in her lap, and hid itself under 
the folds of her dress. The first time I called 
to see her after this singular event had trans- 
pired, she related all the particulars, in a way 
that led one to fear she was falling into the 
snare, which she had laid for her own soul, and 



304 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOft's LIFE. 

was endeavoring to build up a hope of her 
interest in the Saviour upon the flight of an 
affrighted bird. I labored to show her, that 
there was nothing in this singular event which 
could afford the least evidence of her being a 
Christian, and that any reliance which she 
might place upon it would be a delusion, which 
would endanger her soul. I told her that 
Satan might have been permitted to direct the 
bird into her window, and into her lap, for the 
very purpose of furnishing her with the ground 
of hope for which she had been seeking, that 
he might destroy her soul. I was enabled by 
the grace of God, to dispel this delusion, and 
in a short time afterwards I found her resting 
on Christ, and putting her trust in his pro- 
mises. 

At a proper time she was examined and re- 
ceived into the Church, and years afterwards 
in an interview which I had with her, men- 
tioned with gratitude her escape from that 
snare. 

It is very common for awakened sinners to 
be waiting for some evidence of their accept- 
ance, before they put their trust in Christ. 
Multitudes are in this way kept from the foot 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTORS LIFE. 305 

of the cross for a long time, and not a few, in 
this manner grieve away the Spirit of God, 
and destroy their own souls. The sinner can 
never be accepted till he repents and believes, 
and to be looking for an evidence of his ac- 
ceptance as the gronnd of his faith, is as pre- 
posterous, as it would have been, for blind 
Bartimeus to have waited until he could see 
before he would go to Christ to receive his 
sight. 

I have often thought that this is the founda- 
tion of more false hopes than any other single 
error that prevails in our world. It invites 
self-deception and throws the soul open to 
the devices of the adversary. In some denom- 
inations of Christians, it is common, in times 
of revival, for the minister to invite the 
awakened forward to be prayed for, and while 
they are kneeling and some one is praying for 
them, others will be asking them if they do 
not feel some change, and if they say they do, 
they are told to be encouraged, for this is an 
evidence that they have been regenerated, and 
are accepted of God. In this way they are 
led to hope, not because Christ has offered 
eternal life to all who will repent and believe, 



306 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

but because they feel differently, they are not 
so much distressed as they were, or they have 
some pleasant emotion, and upon this they 
ground their hope. We do not object to 
having awakened sinners invited forward to be 
prayed for, or conversed with, but they should 
be distinctly taught not to look for evidence 
of acceptance before they put their trust in 
Christ, or to build up a hope upon the founda- 
tion of their own frames and feelings, but to 
accept the pardon offered to them by the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and to build their hope upon his 
promises. Nothing must be put in the place 
of Christ. If we should find ourselves relying 
on our feelings, or even on our faith, we should 
take the alarm and fly to the only hope which 
is set before us, " Christ Jesus and him cruci- 
fied." Faith is like the light which makes 
other things visible, while it is itself unseen, 
and the man who should trust in his faith to 
save him, would act as unwisely as the man 
who, when he saw a strong deliverer at hand to 
rescue him from his danger, should trust in 
the light rather than in the deliverer whom 
the light had revealed to him. 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 307 



THE GIRL WHO WAS OFFENDED AT THE MANNER IN 
WHICH SHE WAS PRAYED FOR. 

A young lady of moral habits and a serious 
turn of mind, came one morning into a little 
prayer-meeting, which a few Christians used 
to hold at each other's houses, and requested 
us to pray for her that she might become a 
Christian. In complying with her request, I 
spoke of her as a lost sinner, who had all her 
life long been living in rebellion against God, 
and besought the Lord to humble her proud 
heart, and make her willing to give up her 
sins and accept of Christ, as he was offered 
in the Gospel. She left the meeting without 
my knowing what the state of her mind was, 
and I had no conversation with her till a long 
time after she had indulged a hope in Christ, 
when she gave me the following account of 
the manner that prayer had affected her. 

She came to that meeting, feeling that she 
had always done about as well as she could, 
and that in asking for prayers, she was taking 
a very low place, and using the only remaining 



308 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

means in her power to induce the Lord to give 
her a new heart. She expected that Christians 
would appreciate her position, and consider 
and treat her as one who was truly desirous 
of serving the Lord, and who had come there 
for the purpose of seeking him. The conse- 
quence was, that when we treated her as a 
rebel against God, whose proud heart kept her 
from submitting herself to him, she felt abused 
and slandered, and went away exceedingly 
angry with me. But though angry she was 
not at ease ; her heart, like the troubled sea, 
continued to cast up mire and dirt ; but there 
was no rest for her soul. Her mind was per- 
petually haunted with the recollection that a 
minister who had always before treated her 
with kindness, considered her in a state of 
rebellion against God, and prayed for her as a 
proud sinner who was unwilling to submit 
herself to her Saviour. 

After continuing for a long time in this un- 
amiable state of mind, she began to inquire of 
herself, whether her feelings towards me were 
not evidence of her being in reality what I 
had represented her — a rebel against God. 
What had I done \ She had requested me to 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOK's LIFE. 309 

pray for her, and I had complied with her re- 
quest, and because I had treated her as God's 
enemy, she was offended. These inquiries led 
her to examine the Scriptures to see what the 
human heart was. Here she found that the 
carnal mind was enmity against God, and that 
it was the duty of ministers, as the ambassa- 
dors of Christ, to entreat sinners to be recon- 
ciled to him. If she was an impenitent sinner 
she had a carnal mind, and had been angry 
with a minister of Christ, for praying that she 
might become reconciled to God. This train 
of reflection led her to feel that she was a 
poor, miserable, proud sinner, and was the 
means, in the hand of God, of humbling her 
at the foot of the cross, and preparing her to 
put her trust in the Lamb of God, who taketh 
away the sin of the world. 

She has now been for years, a professor of 
religion, and feels that the treatment she re- 
ceived at the prayer-meeting was the means of 
showing her to herself, and ultimately bringing 
her to embrace her precious Saviour. 

Sinners must be brought, in some way, to see 
that they are God's enemies, before they will 
seek to be reconciled to him through the great 



310 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR^ LIFE. 

atoning sacrifice of Ms Son. It is the first 
step in the promised work of the Comforter, to 
convince the world of sin, and until this is 
done, men will neither be convinced of the 
righteousness of God in their condemnation, 
nor feel their need of a Saviour. " The heart 
is deceitful above all things and desperately- 
wicked," and ministers of the Gospel should 
endeavor to prevent sinners from feeling that 
anything which they do, while they continue 
to reject the Saviour, is lessening their guilt, 
or making them more acceptable in the sight 
of the holy God. The odiousness of their 
rebellion against heaven, is not in the least 
mitigated by the most pungent convictions of 
sin, or the most distressing anxiety about their 
exposedness to divine wrath ; and instead of 
sympathising with them, we must show them, 
that all their distress and anxiety are occa- 
sioned by the enmity of their carnal minds 
against their Creator. If there was any merit 
in being convicted of sin, the damned in hell 
would soon atone for their transgressions, but 
for the sinner in this world of probation to be 
convicted, and yet refuse to accept of Christ, 
is to grieve the Holy Spirit, and thus multiply 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 311 

his transgressions, under the discipline of the 
Almighty. The enmity of the heart against 
God is never more manifest than under the 
strivings of the Holy Spirit. The sinner then 
sees, and feels too, his guilt and his danger, 
and yet, with the offers of a free pardon for 
all his sins and acceptance through Christ, he 
will reject all the overtures of mercy, and ex- 
pose himself to the wrath of God through all 
eternity, rather than submit himself uncondi- 
tionally into the hands of the Eternal. This 
is the only reason that the sinner must be 
born again before he can see the kingdom of 
God. 



312 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE INFLUENCE OF INFIDELITY UPON THE MORAL 
CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS OF MEN IN THIS 
WORLD. 

In preaching a sermon upon this subject to 
the young men of my congregation, I gave 
them a brief sketch of the life and death of 
the author of the " Age of Reason? I ad- 
verted briefly to his brilliant talents, his early 
prospects, his moral character in his last days, 
the closing period of his life, and his unenvia- 
ble death, as an illustration of the blighting 
influence of the sentiments which he taught 
upon all that is lovely and of good report. A 
short time after the delivery of this discourse, 
on visiting one of the young men who heard 
it, I found that he had been an admirer of the 
'' Age of Reason" and had adopted the senti- 
ments of its author, but had gone home from 
hearing the sermon and burnt the book, and 
had taken up his neglected Bible to learn 
what he must do to be saved. In a few days 
he indulged a hope in Christ, and lived and 
died an humble follower of the blessed Sa- 
viour, rejoicing that he had been led by the 



INCIDENTS m A PASTOR'S LIFE. 313 

providence and grace of God, to exchange the 
baseless theory of an infidel philosophy for 
that sure word of prophecy which had been 
the instrument in the hand of the Holy Spirit 
in making him wise unto salvation. 

The writings of Voltaire and Tom Paine 
have made as many infidels as the writings of 
any other two men, and yet there was enough 
in the moral degredation of the latter, and in 
their agonizing and hopeless death, to have 
convinced any unprejudiced mind, that " Hell 
could not boast a fouler fiend, nor man de- 
plore so foul a foe," as he who would shake 
our confidence in that Book which, alone, is 
able to make us wise unto salvation. 



314 INCIDENTS IN A PASTOR'S LIFE. 



THE MAN WHO WAS HIRED TO GO TO THE 
PRAYER-MEETING. 

At a time of some special interest among 
our people, a member of the church, who was 
a mechanic, had a journeyman in his shop who 
never went to meeting in the week time, and 
seldom on the Sabbath. His employer was 
distressed about him, and one evening endeav- 
ored to persuade him to attend the prayer- 
meeting. His excuse was that he could not 
afford to lose the time, he could earn fifty cents 
while he would be at meeting, and that was 
too much for a poor man to throw away. 
To overcome the influence of this hope of gain, 
the employer told him if he would go that 
evening, he would give him fifty cents for his 
time. The journeyman accepted the offer, and 
went with his employer to our little prayer- 
meeting. He was an Englishman, and had 
never attended meeting much in this country, 
and had, I think, never been at a prayer-meeting 
before in his life. He became very much inter- 
ested in the meeting, and the next evening 



INCIDENTS IN A PASTOftV LIFE. 315 

neither wanted to be paid or persuaded to 
attend. In the course of two or three days he 
became deeply interested in view of his lost 
and perishing condition, and attended our 
meeting of inquiry to know what he should do 
to be saved, He felt that he was the chief of 
sinners, and could not concieve how a holy 
God could ever forgive him. I referred him 
for encouragement to the case of Paul, who 
tells us that he was the chief of sinners, and 
yet obtained mercy, because he did it igno- 
rantly through unbelief; but when he heard 
this 5 instead of taking encouragement from it, 
he wept bitterly, and said that he could not 
plead ignorance, as Paul did, for he believed 
the Bible to be the Word of God, and believ- 
ed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and 
yet he had, from his childhood up, rejected 
him, and sinned against him with a high hand. 
I then told him that the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleansed from all sin, and if he would apply to 
his blessed Saviour by faith, though his soul 
might, by reason of its iniquities, be red like 
crimson, it should be make white like snow. 
This seemed in some measure to calm his 
troubled spirit, but it was several days before 



318 

lie could take hold on Christ as his Redeemer j 
but when he did he was full of joy and peace. 

As soon as he found a resting-place for his 
own soul, his heart began to travail in pain for 
the companion of his bosom, and he would 
give himself no rest till she too was rejoicing 
in hope. 

He still liveSj and is a consistent member of 
ah evangelical church, and furnishes an en- 
couragement to Christians to do all that they 
Consistently can to bring careless sinners under 
the means of grace; Though the method 
resorted to by my brother was quite a new 
measure, yet God seemed to smile upon it, and 
that half dollar was probably the means of 
saving a precious soul from death, and hiding 
a multitude of sins* 



